{"id":38333,"date":"2014-08-17T06:00:12","date_gmt":"2014-08-17T11:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/?p=38333"},"modified":"2014-09-23T08:25:23","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T13:25:23","slug":"free-your-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/free-your-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Your Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSC_0176adj\"<\/a>With the release of the Action Plan for Diversity from the Chancellor and the opening of the new Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement this fall, Ole Miss is continuing to make strides in changing perceptions and improving the experience for all whom it serves.<\/p>\n

I heard\u00a0that there\u00a0was a demonstration this weekend in response to some of these changes, however, I was too busy taking pictures of my son and his friend in the Grove to pay it any mind\u00a0(I rather enjoy the innocence of children).<\/p>\n

When you say the word \u201cdiversity,\u201d it invokes an emotional and visceral response from some people. Defensiveness, separation, the weeping, gnashing of teeth, etc. That\u2019s unfortunate because in the realm of science, education, marketing or industry, having diversity can stimulate innovation or growth and create synergy within.<\/div>\n

Diversity just means satisfying a mix of skills, ideas, background and other characteristics necessary for promoting growth and learning among a group. It also means understanding and recognizing those individual differences and embracing them.<\/p>\n

So, what does diversity bring to an organization? Sometimes it brings differences in race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical ability or religion. But it can also bring a difference in perspectives, experience levels, work habits and ideas. The intrinsic value for diversity encompasses these inner qualities just as much as the external ones. For most businesses and industry, diversity of thought entering into the marketplace of ideas can equal success and greater reach. For human existence, diversity is a way of going beyond yourself to appreciate others, thereby acquiring some level of empathy for your fellow man. To me, that is enlightenment.<\/p>\n

With a good attitude, diversity seems like a win-win. With a negative attitude, it can seem like a desire to never change or improve.<\/p>\n

I am aware that tackling issues of diversity can be challenging. It requires stepping outside of one\u2019s comfort zone and that isn\u2019t easy. But many corporations, businesses and institutions of higher learning have already realized the necessity of addressing it, creating positions within the organization committed to working towards diversity, equity and inclusion. The train of progress is moving and we all have an available seat here. All aboard?<\/p>\n

We are one,
\nMisty Cowherd<\/p>\n

With a background of over 9 years\u00a0dedicated\u00a0to\u00a0diversity and inclusion issues in higher education, Misty Cowherd continues to\u00a0assist\u00a0with promoting\u00a0diversity and inclusion at Ole Miss<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the release of the Action Plan for Diversity from the Chancellor and the opening of the new Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement this fall, Ole Miss is continuing to make strides in changing perceptions and improving the experience for all whom it serves. I heard\u00a0that there\u00a0was a demonstration this weekend in responseRead the story …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[899],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFree Your Mind - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/free-your-mind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free Your Mind - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the release of the Action Plan for Diversity from the Chancellor and the opening of the new Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement this fall, Ole Miss is continuing to make strides in changing perceptions and improving the experience for all whom it serves. I heard\u00a0that there\u00a0was a demonstration this weekend in responseRead the story …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/free-your-mind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-23T13:25:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_0176adj-175x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Ole Miss News\",\"description\":\"The official source for University of Mississippi news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/free-your-mind\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_0176adj-175x300.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/free-your-mind\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/free-your-mind\/\",\"name\":\"Free Your Mind - Ole Miss News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/free-your-mind\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-23T13:25:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/bdca0df98e3328118abda17de008f186\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/free-your-mind\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/bdca0df98e3328118abda17de008f186\",\"name\":\"mcowherd\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/1.gravatar.com\/avatar\/773a2f3d0db719f91bc7f7616a261dc9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mcowherd\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38333"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38333"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38539,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38333\/revisions\/38539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}