Community organizer and consultant Ron Chew came to campus for two days earlier this month, and for those involved, it marked a major event beyond the scheduled activities. Timed for Asian Desi Pacific Islander Heritage Month, it fulfilled a new initiative of the President’s Diversity Advisory Community Council—the launch of an annual workshop and community engagement series to bring outstanding leaders to campus and expand awareness of the critical strength of diversity.

The President’s Diversity Advisory Community Council (PDACC) was created in 2014 by then-UO President Michael Gottfredson and continues today under the auspices of President Michael Schill. Council members assist the university in pursuing its goal of including diversity, equity, and inclusion in its efforts to build its academic and research profile, ensure student access and success, and offer a rich, high-caliber educational experience.

Membership in the council includes community members who represent a wide range of interests and links to diverse communities, both from the Eugene area and across the state of Oregon.

Over the years, council members have assisted and advised with UO projects and initiatives; served on various committees; assisted with fundraising; provided input and consultation on hiring, resource mobilization and communication issues; and have met with a variety of stakeholders, including student leaders, the Dreamer’s Working Group, UO Strategies Groups, and UO Police.

Allison Davis-WhiteEyes is the current PDACC chair. She is Fielding Graduate University’s vice president for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Formerly, she was director of community diversity relations for Oregon State University and assistant director of admissions at the UO. Davis-White Eyes believes that “PDACC is about the power of possibilities and how we, as a committed collective of community members and practitioners, wrestle with questions of equity and actively engage the University of Oregon toward taking action.”

Over the past year, Davis-White Eyes said the council has addressed campus policing issues, anti-Asian hate, advocated for and supported faculty and student success, and worked to energize networks from around the state and beyond in support of diverse communities.

PDACC members were also instrumental in planning and facilitating this year’s campus-wide Courageous Conversations, Davis-White Eyes said. Courageous Conversations is a dialogue series intended to create authentic and civil spaces for discussion around current events centered on social and racial justice. These conversations complement PDACC’s work to reinforce community, build trust, and promote alignment as a foundation for positive campus climate change.

During these last years PDACC has witnessed how COVID-19 has particularly affected students from vulnerable and historically underserved populations, reinforcing the critical need for higher education to include diversity, equity, and inclusion issues now and in the future. That awareness, in part, motivated the council to offer an annual workshop and community engagement series—to assist and empower the president, senior leadership, and the campus with a “strength to strength” approach to embolden its commitment and vision for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

PDACC hosted Ron Chew May 11-12, timed with UO’s Asian Desi Pacific Islander Heritage Month events. The council worked in partnership with the Division of Equity and Inclusion, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the UO Multicultural Center and the Asian Desi Pacific Islander Strategies Group.

Chew is a renowned consultant and community organizer with expertise in journalism, videography and community-based approaches to museums. He is the head of Chew Communications, served as executive director of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, and was editor of the International Examiner, the oldest and largest nonprofit, pan-Asian Pacific American publication in the Northwest. His memoir, My Unforgotten Seattle, captures the “soul of Seattle” grounded in his Asian American experience.

During Chew’s two-day visit, he guided a tour of the JSMA exhibit Remember This: Hung Liu at Trillium; led a workshop for PDACC members; was guest at a reception and book signing of his memoir at the Multicultural Center; and gave a public keynote address (a recording of his keynote address will be made available on the DEI website).