Penn is increasing its minority outreach efforts with a new diversity weekend this fall.
The University will invite Asian, black, Latino, American Indian and LGBT alumni and current students to the first-ever “Spectrum Weekend.”
Penn is the first school to include LGBT alumni and students in this kind of format, according to Elise Betz, director of Penn Alumni. The events — held from Oct. 1-3, 2010 — could draw up to 1,000 alumni, she added.
The weekend, which is a new opportunity for alumni to reconnect with Penn and with each other, is focused on “rediscovery, connection, engagement, networking, socializing and some high-level education,” Betz said.
“Our alumni have asked us to become more involved,” Penn President Amy Gutmann explained. “It wasn’t that we were lobbied for this event, but we have been doing more and more to involve our alumni of color, and our LGBT alumni,” she said.
The weekend will feature educational panels and tours of Penn’s multicultural facilities, such as the ARCH.
“We want alumni who haven’t been back [since graduation] to come back and see how much progress has been made,” Betz continued.
Black and Asian alumni, she said, might be interested in learning that Makuu, Penn’s black cultural center, and the Pan-Asian American Community House are both celebrating their 10th anniversaries this year.
The weekend will be mostly volunteer-driven, Betz explained, and students will be strongly encouraged to participate and attend.
“Alumni of the past aren’t as informed as students of the present are in everything that’s going on at Penn,” Gutmann said.
The weekend-long event will allow Penn to make progress on its goal to integrate all alumni into the “rich life of the University,” she continued.
As many of the targeted alumni may have lost touch with Penn in the past, the University is using a “broad-based marketing” approach to reach out, Betz said.
“We know that we don’t have completely accurate [contact] information” for all minority alumni, Betz explained. The best way to publicize the weekend is to advertise in alumni publications and go through word of mouth, she said.
“We trust that those who are interested will find out about this and check back for updates,” Multicultural Outreach Director Nicole Maloy wrote in a statement.
The weekend is meant to build upon existing efforts by the Penn Alumni Diversity Alliance to reach out to diverse alumni, Maloy emphasized.
