Fiscal Year 2013

Nowruz - Persian/Iranian New Year Festival is a 1-day festival that will be celebrated on the 20th of March with visitors from all walks of life. This will be the first time it is celebrated on a Ferris State University campus.

Nowruz is a strong and unbreakable chain that connects several countries with diverse cultures, languages, and religions in different parts of the world that all once constituted the civilization of Greater Persia. All the Iranians in this great land, the Persian-speaking minorities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe; the people of Tajikistan and Afghanistan; and groups of people in Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Armenia, Albania, and Iraq celebrate Nowruz annually and consider it to be one of their main national festivals.

At this event, one beautiful and eye-catching Haft-Sin table will be displayed in the IRC connector. One or two Persian student(s) or community member(s) will explain the meaning and the symbolism of each item on the Haft-Sin table during the program. There will be an introduction about Nowruz, its history, and an explanation of the Haft-Sin Table by Sara Ansari in one of the rooms in IRC followed by a presentation about Persian culture and its connection with nature by Dr. Shahram

Revised September 5, 2012Parastesh, Iranian Scholar at Ferris. In the evening, Persian food will be served to all attendees to give them a taste of the Middle East as well take part in a Nowruz custom.

The Rankin Art Gallery, the Office of Multicultural Student Services, The Kendall Gallery, and Artworks of Big Rapids are working together to bring the stunning tradition of Oaxaca Folk Art to Ferris State University. The work will be on display at each location; Big Rapids main campus, Kendall Grand Rapids campus and Artworks of Big Rapids.

This exhibition will take place in tandem with the OMSS organized events that make up FSU's Hispanic Heritage celebration. Along with the art on display, the artists will be brought to our communities to talk to our students, faculty, staff and our public, covering topics that include information about the rich cultural heritage of Oaxaca Mexico, the current political climate of their country and most importantly the tradition of Oaxaca wood carving.

Along with meeting the artists and learning about their lives, students will have the opportunity to observe Jacobo carving and Maria painting during workshop sessions. Students and the public will also have an opportunity to learn and apply the unique method of painting in the colorful and delicate style. Workshops, demonstrations and presentations will be scheduled in all three locations.

Birkan Health Center at Ferris State University has systems in place to provide quality health services to students. While we pride ourselves in the provision of quality, comprehensive and affordable health care, Birkam Health Center is challenged to effectively provide care to Low English Proficient (LEP) students and students with particular disabilities. The specific challenge discussed here includes interpreting the spoken and written word for our LEP and International student population. A number of International students in the beginning English classes have come to Ferris State University without English-speaking skills or a very limited capacity. One can imagine the potential difficulty this would pose for a student seeking appropriate health care on campus.

LEP students have the right to receive health information in their preferred language venue. This venue includes written information and verbal information including those cultural factors that affect understanding of health information. Our goal is to provide this by using special phones, translated materials, language services education, interpreters and marketing supplies for LEP.

Many pre-business participants are first-generation college students that lack exposure to university services, the business world, and career opportunities available to them because of educational success. Some of our students are academically underprepared for the university experience. The Torch Program is being initiated for these students because we believe they tend to fall through the cracks and are at risk of being unsuccessful in our learning environment. As we know, FSU offers many services for underprepared students. This program is not meant to take the place of current offerings. We believe some of our pre-business students need additional guidance and "intrusive" advising to utilize the available services. We believe these students will benefit through out-of-class contact which can also be provided by trained mentors in the business field. Specific business-oriented events will also be planned for the students participants.   

"Native Exploration: Native American Pow Wow & Round Dance" is a new initiative to promote, teach and engage our campus community on Native American culture. The two-part event is one students, faculty, staff ad community members will enjoy and be able to participate in. The first event is a Traditional Pow Wow. Historically, Pow Wow's started in the 19th century, and today's gatherings are based on the fundamental values common to Native Americans across North America: Honor, Respect, Tradition and Generosity. The event at FSU will be the first of its kind here on campus that will include singers, dancers, vendors and families from all over Michigan to share and celebrate the culture. 

The second event will be a Round Dance. Students, community-members will be invited to participate in the Round Dance exhibition. The Round Dance will be participatory, and all will see the evolution to modern from Pow-Wow to Round Dance. The event will include a talk from professional Native drummer on the history and meaning of the Drum to the indigenous People, and a Dreamcatchers workshop by the FSU RSO Circle of Tribal Nations. The events will be free and open to campus, a small fee will be charged for community members.

Dr. Renn's keynote address and workshop are designed to heighten faculty and staff awareness of the challenges LBGT students face in the classroom. These challenges range from benign neglect of LBGT perspectives and student perceptions that faculty do not understand them, to experiencing outright hostility from faculty and other students.

Research (e.g., Cotton-Huston and Waite, 2000; Lopez and Chism, 1993) suggests that lesbian, gay, and bisexual students experience high rates of discrimination and harassment on campus and that the classroom environment has an impact on student's coming-out experiences. There is also research (e.g., Malinowitz, 1995) to suggest that the coming-out experiences of students are linked to the retention and success of students in colleges and universities. This keynote address and workshop are designed to heighten faculty and staff awareness of these issues and provide them with concrete strategies for how to address them in the classroom.