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March 4, 2005

Campus hosts multicultural education conference

The 11th Annual Multicultural Education Conference will be held at California State University, Sacramento on Saturday, March 12 from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m., with the opening session in the Alumni Center and following sessions in the University Union.

The goal of the free conference, ”Reflections on the Elections: Educating and Empowering Diverse Students through Social Justice Action,” is to inform university and K-12 teachers, administrators and students of ways to assist underrepresented students in the classroom, and analyze the ramifications of politics and policy on schools.

“Politicians need to be informed about what is best for underrepresented students,” says conference co-chair Maggie Beddow from the Bilingual and Multicultural Education department. “Teachers are learning and becoming more aware of how to become social justice activists, as they are trying to find ways to implement the best strategies for educating underrepresented students, and hope they can influence policy through attending hearings and doing letter writing campaigns.”

Workshop topics include the performance of minorities in local schools, expectations of students based on race, and non-discrimination of lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual students, while other presenters will discuss the effects of education reforms on classroom teaching and student learning.

Nationally acclaimed filmmaker, lecturer, and diversity trainer Lee Mun Wah will give the keynote address. University President Alexander Gonzalez will provide opening remarks at 8:45 a.m.

More information about the conference and workshops can be found at the College of Education’s website at http://edweb.csus.edu, or by contacting Beddow at Beddow@csus.edu or Forrest Davis at 278-4574.

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