The Office of Diversity launched its diversity book club initiative Monday with a discussion on reporter and author Dan Baum’s “Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans” in the Women’s Center.
Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Chair Dereck Rovaris said the initiative’s goal is to provide the campus with a common read that serves as a departure point for discussions about diversity.
The initiative will focus on a single book every year, and a new read will be chosen each fall to mark the arrival of a new President’s Millennial Scholars Program class. The program supports a cohort of underrepresented students, including first generation students, low income students and ethnic minorities, Rovaris said.
The frequency of meetings will be left to the discretion of the group each semester.
Dan Baum’s “Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans” follows nine New Orleanians after Hurricanes Betsy and Katrina. The book highlights the city’s distinctiveness through the subjects’ diverse voices. Extensive character range and the focus on New Orleans were key in the novel’s selection, Rovaris said.
“We’re sitting in class with people, we look at them, we make a judgment but we don’t really know anything about them,” Rovaris said. “But if we spend a little time getting to know them as we get to know those characters, these characters in this book, you might have a different opinion of them and it might be a little bit better than it initially was.”
Understanding diversity is also important beyond the classroom.
Joann Guidos, one of the book’s subjects, is a transgender woman who owns Joann’s Kajun’s Pub on Saint Claude Ave in New Orleans. Guidos, who spoke at Monday’s discussion, said her bar operates under the simple rule that patrons must respect everybody or be put out.
Discussing diversity is important for making strides away from the violence occurring worldwide, she said.
“Ignorance sometimes creates problems and misunderstandings on diversity, and if you discuss and learn more about it you can find out that it’s okay,” Guidos said.
Wilbert J. Rawlins, Jr., another of Baum’s subjects, is an instrumental music teacher and creative arts department chair at L.B. Landry-O.P. Walker High School in New Orleans. He also gave remarks during the discussion and agreed with Guidos, noting he works to expose his students to diversity to help them become accustomed to people’s differences.
“Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans” looks beyond the Crescent City’s surface and reveals the depth and diversity hidden throughout the city, he said.
“This book has nine lives in it but it could easily be a book of nine million,” Rawlins said. “Everyone is different and everybody has their own story. Everybody has their own place in society and that’s what makes New Orleans special.”
Book club launched to spark conversation, reflection on diversity
By Katie Gagliano
March 28, 2016
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