What a Wonderful Weekend!

Well, the HBCU/HSI Diversity Weekend was a success! Everybody was in place and on target, which made things run as smoothly as they did.

The weekend began with all the students (Lincoln University, University of Texas-PanAm, and Spelman College) arriving Friday afternoon. We began with a welcome and ice breaker session from all the current volunteer students. This session began with some stiffness, but once people walked around with "peanut butter and jelly sandwich" and "Brittany Spears' Hair" written on their backs, everyone loosened up. The highlight for the evening, probably the highlight of the whole weekend was the amazing faculty and staff members who came out to casually converse with the students during a reception and during dinner.

Following dinner we had a panel discussion on difference and diversity and all the possible things we could talk about as it relates to race, culture, and education. Although the students from Texas had been up since about 5am, they persevered through the conversation and made wonderful contributions to the discussion.

The next morning we hit the ground running. Again, the volunteers were on point! They made sure students were in place for the mock class session held by Dr. Gasman. All the visiting students expressed their gratitude to Dr. Gasman for facilitating such an involved conversation. We continued through the morning with "tips on applying" and "division/program information".

LUNCH! and a well need downtime.

After lunch we took the guest students on an abbreviated tour of campus. During the tour, we came across a community service event, and a pink powder puff flag football game. Around 2pm, we meet our Philly tour guide, Sheldon, for an extensive tour of center city. We went to Independence hall, Christs' Church, African American Museum, dinner, and King Tut exhibit.

Our wonderful weekend ended with breakfast and evaluations on Sunday morning, followed by trips to the airport and a lengthy ride back to Lincoln University.

This successful weekend could not have taken place without the efforts of faculty, staff, and students at GSE and our awesome visiting students! Thanks guys!

Hectic Times

Hi all

Well spring break was last week, which I took advantage of it and went on a well needed vacation. I AM PAYING FOR IT NOW! I did not take any books or assignments with me on my vacation, only my computer so I could do email corresponding. When I returned I had so much to do. In addition to my usual load of school work and 2 jobs, I am planning for the Diversity Weekend. We have invited 15 students to spend a weekend at Penn and I am responsible for getting things together. So since I have come back I have "overlooked" some school assignments and decided to plan a wonderful weekend for these very lucky students. I really hope everything goes well because I will cry if things totally bomb. Some people have been sending me emails about GSE and about my journals, please don't hesitate to contact me, I enjoy these correspondences :)