This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. Utah has a strong, well-educated, hard-working and vibrant workforce, and we want to make sure that everyone in Utah feels welcome and wanted. Meligha Garfield is here to share what the University of Utah is doing.
MELIGHA GARFIELD
The Black Cultural Center at the University of Utah opened up in February of 2019, and I was hired as the Center’s director a few months later. It’s been a great experience working with people who’ve grown up in Utah, as well as those who’ve just arrived.
The Black Cultural Center seeks to holistically enrich, support, and advocate for faculty, staff, and students through Black-centered research, culturally affirming educational initiatives, and service. We use a Pan-African lens in our outreach – which is just a fancy way of saying that are focused on creating a sense of brotherhood, sisterhood, and collaboration among all people of African descent in Utah.
Our goal is to create a sense of belonging for black students, with the goal of increasing the recruitment and retention of Black faculty, staff, and those seeking an education at the University of Utah. It is definitely a work in progress, but well worth the effort.
DEREK MILLER
Utah’s demographics are changing rapidly. Over the past ten years, over half of the people moving into Utah were racial and ethnic minorities, and we want everyone to feel welcomed. I’m Derek Miller with the Salt Lake Chamber, Speaking on Business.