The Campus Dialogue on Race is an annual event at Humboldt State University that invites students, staff, faculty, administrators and community members to present and attend programs that relate to racial justice and its intersections with all forms of oppression. Our objective is to create spaces and structures for reflection, analysis and dialogue. This year's Dialogue will run from November 1st to 8th. All events are open to the public and the community is encouraged to attend all of the events on the attached calendar.

The vision of Campus Dialogue on Race is to achieve racial justice and eliminate social oppression and environmental destruction. The program's mission is to promote and facilitate social and environmental change by engaging a diverse range of individuals, communities and viewpoints to explore the impact of racism and its intersections with all forms of oppression.

This year's theme is "Race in the Age of Obama."

Arcata Main Street is partnering with Humboldt State University to offer a business community segment for the 2009 Campus Dialogue on Race. An open-forum discussion on "Creating an Inclusive Business Community" will be held on Thursday November 5, 2009 from 6-8 pm at the Hotel Arcata.

A strong partnership between Humboldt State University and the local business community are an essential component in the academic and professional success of our students. The diversity that these students bring to the Northern Coast contributes greatly to our reputation as a vibrant and creative tourist spot, as well as to the long-term economic viability of our region. HSU strongly believes that in order to ensure that we have an effective and functioning partnership between the university and its community neighbors; we need to take steps to deepen our understanding of how we can truly support our students and develop ways of working together so that they not only achieve, but thrive in this environment.

Creating inclusive businesses and partnering with HSU will in turn help the overall economic and social success and growth of our larger community.

This open-forum discussion aims to bring together a panel of HSU faculty and staff with interested members of the community in order to discuss:

*       What does it mean to build capacity for diversity and inclusion in your place of business?

*       Challenges to building capacity for diversity and inclusion in northern Humboldt County

*       Opportunities for change and partnership between HSU and the local business community

We hope that you will attend this open-forum discussion on "Creating an Inclusive Business Community" will be held on Thursday November 5, 2009 from 6-8 pm at the Hotel Arcata.