January 2012 ODA Newsletter

Volume III Issue 3 January 2012

Student Leadership & Community Engagement Newsletter

10 Years: A PerspectiveThe Office of Diversity Affairs, established in 2001, has been recognized as a strong cornerstone in addressing the critical need of developing a supportive learning environment for a diverse student body, as well as maintaining a specific focus on the Leeds underrepresented undergraduate experience. Shifting the norms of a community toward inclusion and support for historically marginalized populations has required a long term vision and strategic direction. The mission of the Office of Diversity Affairs in the Leeds School of Business is to assist historically underrepresented students in their pursuit of academic excellence and success in our multinational business arena. The office is dedicated to fostering and maintaining partnerships with alumni, as well as local, national, and international business entities. In this spirit came the development of the Diverse Scholars Program.

The Leeds School of Business Diverse Scholars Program has demonstrated success in pioneering and producing solid student development initiatives within Leeds. The Diverse Scholars Program is a retention initiative designed to address academic development and career preparation from a “whole-person” student development philosophy. Participants receive academic services, scholarship assistance, social networking, leadership development opportunities, and career development experiences designed to support a successful transition to the University of Colorado (Boulder campus) and to ensure student academic success throughout their university career.

Strategic since its conception, ODA has championed student development and continues to stretch its success pipeline for access and opportunity for all.

(2001) Aswad Allen (far left) is pictured with participants of the Business Leadership Program. BLP was inherited from Career Connections and has been a staple pre-college program that “talent mines” high school students in their junior and senior year. Amy Weatherhead (far right) was a Program Coordinator at the time. Students who participate in BLP and were admitted into Leeds transition into the Diverse Scholars Program.




Table of Contents

More Than Just a Program

Diversity in Education

Pre-College Outreach

Diverse Scholars Program

Student Staff Corner

DSP International

Academic Awards Banquet

Alumni Highlights

Leeds Scholarships Corporate Opportunities

Important Dates

& More



More Than Just A ProgramTo someone that is not familiar with the Office of Diversity Affairs, they might be surprised to hear it’s actually more of a family. Whom I would describe as the Father of this family is the office administrator, Aswad Allen. I say this because I have seen and experienced his “parenting” first hand. Not only have I participated in the Business Leadership Program, but I am also a member of the Diverse Scholars Program and I am a student employee in the ODA. These programs, little did I know, have been around for about ten years and all started with the passion Aswad discovered during his college career here at the University of Colorado. Aswad worked in the Student Academic Services Center as a recruiter for CU and traveled to high schools all over Colorado just to share how awesome he thought this school was, he was involved in many programs and was exposed to many cultures. After graduating with two degrees, he worked with many students ages 16-25 in student programs in three different states. When he grasped his passion for aiding students in their academic paths, he ended up back at CU in the office of Diversity and Minority Programs. Aswad said, “We changed the name of the office immediately for two reasons; we didn’t want it to be inclusive just for minorities and we wanted everyone, no matter what their background, to feel welcome and included.” This is how the Office of Diversity Affairs began to adopt students and “help these superhero’s develop their skills.”

Aswad’s goal was to make the office a home for the students as he did not have that comfort when he was going to school. As a student employee, I truly see how it is a home for not only for myself but all the students who come into the office on a daily basis just to hang out. Everyone knows each other by first name and we all use each other for support and resources for success. This office is very proud of the programs they have created; Aswad created a step by step analysis titled “Building Blocks” for the pre-college student, 1st-4th year student, and alumni/post-graduate student. The building block for a pre-college student is the Business Leadership Program. This program teaches students how to develop business plans for corporate sponsors such as Shell, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Target. Spending a week of my summer with the ODA staff and learning about opportunities and business de-velopments here at Leeds made me ap-preciate the opportu-nity I was given and set me up for suc-cess when I started my first semester last fall. The next building block is the Diverse Scholars Program for stu-dents to participate in all four years of study.

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by Jessica Beard

This program aids and monitors students’ academic achievements and matches each student with a mentor from an upper class. There is a fall retreat, presentations, tutoring, and workshops that all come with being a member in this program and I have taken advantage of all these resources and couldn’t be happier here at the business school. After you graduate, the last building block is alumni where we currently have 650 members who are located all across the globe. Alumni have come back and shared their stories with current members and gave them support and job opportunities to help them start their career paths. As Aswad stated, “we have become an innovation incubator where the students have become the lab technicians.” I truly believe in this statement for the fact that I have a home away from home, brothers and sisters I can count on, and resources to rely on. Aswad was humble enough to say he doesn’t want to take all the credit for the start of this large family, Steve Norris and Amy Weatherhead have helped tremendously since the start of the office. These two have developed platforms that enabled the business school to spin-off onto other programs such as the “peer2peer” program.

The office of Diversity Affairs I like to think is one big support circle; it never ends and no matter where you travel, you are always connected. Aswad is truthfully a father to this office, he feels blessed coming into work every day knowing he has rewarding opportunities to touch lives. He finds his job challenging at times but the students reward him with exciting ways to push themselves and realize what they are capable of doing. He feels he has a made a blueprint, not just for the Leeds School of Business, but also for all places suc-cessful in building a thriving community. As an “off-spring” of what Aswad has developed and established at CU, I feel honored to know I am a part of something more than just a program, but a family that will stay a part of who I am for the rest of my life.



Diversity Inc. The Battle of Education in Business

by Chelby Jackson

The battle for school desegregation ultimately expanded the struggle for social justice beyond the classroom, leading to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination and segregation in voting, education and the use of public facilities. Diversity in Education today is still a struggle with achieving equal educational opportunities for students and is commonly known as the “minority achieving gap”. As stated in Diversity Inc. (the leading publication on diversity and business), this achievement gap is “the lower average test scores, grades and college attendance and the higher dropout rate among Black and Latino Students. This gap refers to the performance disparity between groups of students defined by gender, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status.”

There has also been talk about if traditional academic approaches have been hindering organizations from bolstering diversity. According to new research, universities aren’t doing enough to diversify the next generation of talent from STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) departments. In fact, 37 percent of STEM department chairs gave their institution a grade of “C” or below when it came to successfully recruiting and retaining women, Black, Latino and American Indian students.

This article is relevant for several reasons. For one, two of the main letters in S.T.E.M., we use every day in the business school, which is mathematics and technology. Another significant message to take out of this article is that institutions do need to provide not only expectations of diverse students but also let the experience be welcoming. A quote to take away from this article is that upper education needs to “Let students know that they should be there and that they are wanted there.” This is important because we talk about diversity in the business school every day. Here at The Leeds School of Business, The Office of Diversity Affairs is the conduit for the promotion of inclusion and looks to create the welcoming environment for students, where not only one’s education is valued, but also one’s self.



Pre-College Outreach

As you know the office launched the inaugural Junior Business Leadership Program last summer that targets middle school students in the 6th and 7th grade. We are currently looking for counselors to lead a team of students as they blow you away with their ideas, energy and talent. If you are looking to get involved and give back, add a dynamic program to your resume, please contact Adrian directly.

The high school Business Leadership Program planning is well under way and the peer counselors will begin to meet the week of Feb 6th. We are very excited to have returning companies like Shell and Target as part of our corporate team, as well as welcome new companies like 1st Bank. If you are interested in getting involved please see Jamie.

Peer Mentors are continuing to come up with new and innovative ways to stay connected in an ever growing community – just ask them. Mark your calendars, we are heading to the Nuggets Game on Feb 23rd! Look out for more information.

Want to help DSP? Be a MENTOR. Contact us directly as we prepare for the next academic year!


by Chelby Jackson

Peer Mentoring



Diverse Scholars ProgramAs a junior in the Leeds School of Business studying Finance and Real Estate I feel the Diverse Scholars Program has greatly impacted where I am today. As a freshman coming to CU I did not know anyone on the large campus. Shortly after the school year began I was invited to take part in their annual retreat where there were many other business students from various back-grounds. On the retreat I met so many friends who I feel now are my family. After returning to campus all of a sudden it did not seem so large because I knew people in every one of my classes. Throughout the years as the Diverse Scholars Program continues to grow I feel my family is growing larger and larger. I know I can rely on the people in this community for anything whether it has to do with school, work, social life, or anything! I know there is someone there for me who wants me to succeed. Being part of this community makes me feel important.

Being part of the Diverse Scholars Program has given me the confidence to become a better leader. I am currently the Vice President of the Real Estate club and next year will take over as President. Without the Diverse Scholars community I would not feel the confi-dence and encouragement I have now because I would still have been that student lost in the crowd.

As a student who commutes to and from campus each day it is harder to engage in social activities. But only in the Diverse Scholars community will you have friends who no matter how many times you turn them down to go to a movie or to dinner or just hang out will they continue to ask you with an understanding heart to once again to go eat at Tai Avenue. I feel in this community unlike any other community people are understanding and genuinely compassionate. Words can hardly describe how much this program has meant to me and the impact it has had on my life.

by Shekinah Ward




Student Staff CornerThe DSP Office is bringing in the New Year with new Staff! Come in and meet Caleb Trantow, Jessica Beard, Issac Gebre-Michael and Wendy Xia. Our office has also been remodeled so come check it out! We have a lot of events in the months to follow so be active and get involved!

MBSA Upcoming Events

Shell CorporationFebruary 2nd (tomorrow)7:00pm-8:00pm in Koelbel 375

Industry Night February 21stTuesday 6:00pm-7:00pm in Koelbel 375

Habitat for Humanity March 31stSaturday in Longmont MARK YOUR CALANDARS!

Banquet Planning Meetings are every Friday at 11:30am in KOBL 260

Upcoming at Leeds

Allegiant Information Session February 7th, 20126:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m., KOBL 235

E&J Gallo Winery Information Session February 15th, 20126:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m., KOBL 235

Leeds Career Fair - Feb 15The Second Annual Business School Career Fair for

ALL business undergraduate & MBA students.1-5pm at Folsom Field.

DSP Study Labs

BCOR 1010- Shorne StevensMondays @ 6pm - KOBL 355

BCOR 2200- Z YangMon.@ 6pm- KOBL 325

BCOR 1020- Anuja TulpuleTues.@ 5:15pm- KOBL 355

BCOR 2000- Ashley NagakiTues. @ 7:00- KOBL 355

ECON 2020- Erik OliveraThurs. @ 6:30- KOBL 355

Study Labs are held each week andstart

the week of Feb 6th.



DSP International

Alumni Highlights

Follow Samantha Argos, junior marketing major, as she blogs about her study abroad experience in Sevilla, Spain!

An alumni newsletter is distributed each month and if you are not on the list to receive, please contact Anselma.

http://vidasevilla.blogspot.com Study Abroad Information SessionFebruary 16 from 5-6 p.m. Koelbel 230THE DEADLINE TO STUDY ABROAD IN THE FALL IS MARCH 1ST

Lydia Chou, 2009Denver Nguyen, 2008

After graduation, I did an internship at Crocs. Yup the company that makes the plastic shoes! Then I packed up my life and moved to Colorado Springs where I started working at SSPR, a public relations agency. I worked on accounts that spanned everything from diet pills and consumer electronics to a wings restaurant and paintbrushes. After a year and a half in Colorado Springs, I’m back in Denver and working at InView Communications, another PR agency. I’m excited to be back in Denver and reconnect with the DSP alums.

As tough as it was for me to leave Boulder after graduating, I did so to join Shell Oil in Finance in their graduate development program. Tailored to be a management training program, I’ve moved to various positions within the company from working at a refinery supporting operations, to supporting a multi-billion dollar construction project, to working now in Mergers & Acquisitions supporting investment activities for the company. Although it’s almost been almost four years since graduating I still draw on my experience as a Diverse Scholar in what I do today!




Academic Awards BanquetSince 2001, The Office of Diversity Affairs and the Multicultural Business Student Association have worked together to help foster leadership, commitment, scholarship, volunteerism, and character. As this banquet marks the 10 year anniversary, we reflect on the long-lasting relationships established and celebrate all the successes and accomplishments of our Leeds family.

If you have never attended this signature event, all that can be said is that it is an experience that you will look forward to year in and year out. Students, faculty, staff, corporate partners, family, friends and community advocates…we look forward to seeing you there!

MBSA held an end of the year banquet prior to 2001. Once ODA was established, an academic component was added to the end of year celebration.

Publisher’s Note



Leeds Scholarships - Apply Today

Corporate OpporunityFirstBank Boulder market is looking for more billingual tellers. If interested, please contact the Director of Diversity Joe Amato-Baril at [email protected]

PwC is happy to announce that PwC’s Personal Brand Experience is back, and this year takes place February 6-10! As you think about how you might design your career path, PwC’s Personal Brand Experience is an additional opportunity for you to find and jump start your career by identifying who you are, what you can do, and what matters most to you.

This is free and open to everyone, regardless of your major or career goals. Each day will focus on a particular area of importance when developing and articulating your personal brand, and will culminate in a personalized tool that you can use to either focus your academic goals or launch your career. By understanding and leveraging your personal brand, you will identify your individuality, maximize your strengths, and manage your choices now to create future opportunities. In other words, stand out simply by being yourself! These tools will be online at pwc.tv, so make sure to visit the website often between February 6-10!




Visit us on the web leeds.colorado.edu/diversity

Important Dates

Leeds Career Fair - February 15Nuggets Game - February 23Scholarship Deadline - March 1Student Symposium - March 19Awards Banquet - April 6Diversity Symposium - May 18

Thank you for reading.

January 2012 ODA Newsletter

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