|
 Welcome
to the Virginia Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators’ Fall training conference, the 2002 iteration
of “Embracing Change.”
The Board of VASFAA and I welcome you to Roanoke, the
historic Hotel Roanoke and Hokie Country.
Ms. Lisa Tumer and the Conference Committee along with
co-chairs Ms. Pat Kelly and Mr. Vern Fairchild of the Training
Committee have planned an outstanding selection of training
opportunities.
We
often hear the saying that “…the only constant in
financial aid is change.”
So true, and I should note that VASFAA has been doing
that now for 35years. One
of our members has been with us many of those 35 years, Ms.
Faye Becker of Educaid. She
will retire at the end of December.
The name of her company has changed but she’s been
the personable and reliable Faye.
And Faye, we are reserving our big 35th
celebration until the Spring Training Conference in Virginia
Beach in May, 2003. I
hope you can join us. We’ll
mention the gala 35th celebration throughout the
Fall Training Conference, and I’m sure Lisa and the
Conference Committee would like to hear your ideas for that
landmark event. And
of course let Pat and Vern know if you have training
suggestions.
Diversity,
early awareness and extending VASFAA’s stance in public
policy are our three principal goals this year, all part of
‘embracing change.’ The
Board has also pledged to increase communication with the
general membership, a need expressed through the membership
survey conducted early last Spring as well as the ‘Listening
Sessions’ held at the Spring Training Conference.
Please make no mistake about this message on behalf of
your Board, we need your volunteerism.
For our new members, volunteer for a committee and
learn more about VASFAA.
For those members who have been with us for a time, all
the more reason for you to volunteer to help mentor those
newer members.
And
volunteers will help us accomplish our principal goals, the
first of which is
diversity. Now
diversity is not
just a black and white and yellow and brown thing, it’s the
concept of embracing differences.
And these differences include ethnicity, but they also
include other features such as gender, disability, sexual
preference, age, and geographic origin.
Religion, political philosophy, veteran status,
citizenship, personality type are other kinds of diversity and
the list goes on and on. Diversity is one of the factors that make the United States
of America such a great nation.
While diversity can cause many conflicts, the benefits
far outweigh the detractions.
Diversity is what makes the American higher education
system the envy of the entire world.
It’s odd that in far too many instances, our campuses
harbor hostility and resistance to diversity in all areas.
But
ethnicity is what most people identify with diversity, not
gender, religion, sexual preference or disability or another
diversity trait. So,
I’m going to talk a minute about diversity and ethnicity.
And
then there are professional associations like VASFAA that can
take a leadership role in dealing with diversity.
But quite frankly, we’re not as welcoming to the
concept of diversity as we really should be.
We talk about it, but when we socialize, we often pair
off into mostly non-diverse groups.
We all have our personal preferences, but my point, as
professionals dealing with very, very diverse
clienteles, when we gather as a profession, we should mix and
mingle more than we currently do.
There are many social and cultural nuances that we
could learn from one another that would enrich our lives so
much.
While
we’re talking about diversity, I want to talk about
something that may make some of you more uncomfortable and
that rarely has been presented openly in a public forum.
An often unseen phenomena among the current majority,
the white population , is white privilege…some would say
this goes as far as an informal institutional racism.
In 1988, Peggy McIntosh, founder of Seeking Educational
Equity and Diversity, wrote
“White Privilege: Unpacking
the Invisible Knapsack.”
Let me share with you more than a few of the White
Privileges she identifies.
Peggy, by the way, is a white female.
I
can turn on the television or open the front page of the paper
and see people of my race widely represented.
When
I am told about our national heritage or about
“civilization’, I am shown that people of my color made it
what it is.
I
can be sure that my children will be given curricular
materials that testify to the existence of their race.
Whether
I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin
color not to work against the appearance of financial
reliability.
I
can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes or not answer
letters without having people attribute these choices to the
bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.
I
can do well in a challenging situation without being called a
credit to my race.
I
am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
I
can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of
color, who constitute the worlds’ majority, without feeling
in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
I
can be sure that if I ask to talk to “the person in
charge’ I will be facing a person of my race.
If
a traffic cop pulls me over, or if the IRS audits my tax
return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of
my race.
I
can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting
cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring
people of my race.
I
can take a job with an affirmative action employer without
having coworkers on the job suspect that I got it because of
race.
If
my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each
negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.
I
can choose blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” color that
more or less matches my skin.
Now,
why do I share these with you?
Two reasons…first we need hear it and to speak openly
about it to change this phenomena and second if we don’t
talk about it, the white population cannot understand the
‘other side’ for the non-white population. The people on
that other side need to hear and see white folk beginning to
recognize the existence of this white privilege and what it
means to the non-white populations.
It encourages communication and understanding so we can
begin to change as well as appreciate the incremental rate of
change something so pervasive requires.
A
little more preaching, and I’ll move on.
There are and will be similar tensions between and with
those persons of color within our country.
African-Americans are the majority minority…but
Hispanics are fast gaining numbers in this country.
What does this do in terms of creating privilege,
disconnects, envy and conflict in the years to come?
An understanding of all of this and a sincere
appreciation of diversity will mediate this type of conflict
so we all can work together rather than against one another.
This
ethnic or skin color piece of diversity, is only one
piece…we have all the other elements such as gender, sexual
orientation, disability, geographic origin, and the list goes
on. Appreciation
of diversity is critical to our nation to continue to thrive,
function and persevere.
Professionally,
we will be in a better position to serve our clients and their
families. Virginia
does have a significant Asian population and the Hispanic
sector continues to grow. Native Americans should not be forgotten as well as our
Appalachian sub-population.
All of this diversity may not currently exist in
VASFAA, but one day it will and we must be welcoming and
interactive. Diversity
is definitely an area where we need to embrace change and
Debra Johnson, Diversity Chair, is moving us in that
direction.
The
second major focus for VASFAA during 2002-03 is early
awareness. While
there are many traditional activities that represent early
awareness, we must expand and intensify our efforts and begin
to explore new venues. This
year we will have awareness programs in middle schools.
We need to intensify our efforts there and perhaps look
to churches and community groups to help in our efforts.
Please share your thoughts on early awareness with
Scott Morrison, at VCU, who chairs this committee.
We all need to become more aware and embrace change in
that early awareness needs to begin in middle school with both
the parents and the students and recognize the divere
populations we serve.
Last
but not least, VASFAA has steadily assumed a more proactive
role in public policy over the past several years under the
leadership of Michael Barree and the Federal/State Relations
Committee. And we
will continue to ramp up our efforts.
In doing so, Michael and the committee may be asking
for our membership to communicate with both elected and
appointed officials at the state and national levels.
As we enter severe budgetary constraints, a more
proactive role in public policy will assure that our case is
heard. The aid
that we administer has significant impact on the short range
as well as long-range health of our economy locally, across
the state and nation. So
it’s critical that we continue to carve out our place in the
policy-making machinery at all levels.
A
public policy issue that looms on the horizon in Virginia…an
additional 38,000 students will be going to college in
Virginia within the next ten years.
There is no coordinated statewide effort to prepare for
this influx. Even
tapping unused capacity in the independent sector will not
produce enough classroom space to meet this challenge.
While the recent higher education bond issue
overwhelmingly passed this is mostly catch-up capital money
rather than preparing for increased enrollments.
Public institutions are now capping enrollments,
reducing class offerings and increasing class size.
This will force a significant number of students to
take longer to graduate thereby exacerbating the need for
financial aid and worsening the student debt situation.
By capping enrollments, some public institutions will
become more competitive, creating a windfall for some less
selective public or independent institutions to become more
selective. We
must warn our policy leaders that this series of actions and
resulting consequences will tend to diminish diversity and
access. We all
need to be aware of this danger and voice our convictions to
policy makers everywhere as individuals as well as
professionals.
These
three critical roles for VASFAA for the 2002-03 year spotlight
the importance and significance of VASFAA itself as a major
bastion in the development, maintenance and enhancement of our
economy and the strength of our institutions, our state and
our nation. Your
membership in VASFAA and your full participation in all
activities are crucial to our ultimate goal of assuring access
to post high school educational opportunities.
And remember to volunteer for committee work if you
have not already done so.
If there is anything I can do, say or write that will
sensitize your institutional leadership to further support you
participation in VASFAA, please let me know.
Thank
you for attention.
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