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Posted November 14, 2005


Contact:
Alfredo Padilla, Education Projects Manager (206) 240 5800

NATIONAL MIXED HERITAGE GROUPS DELIVER OVER 3,200 PUBLIC COMMENTS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


(Washington, DC) Today, members from two MAVIN Foundation campus partners delivered over 3,200 comment cards to the Department of Education. The cards are the culmination of the "One Box Isn't Enough" (OBIE) effort, a partnership of the Association of MultiEthnic Americans, Hapa Issues Forum, Level Playing Field Institute and MAVIN Foundation. OBIE seeks to encourage the Department of Education to implement federal guidelines that allow individuals to “mark one or more” races on forms asking for that information.
 
In 1997 the Federal Office of Management and Budget released standards that allow individuals to mark one or more race on forms requesting race and ethnicity. The Department of Education has not yet implemented these guidelines, despite a January 2003 deadline. Many schools and universities will not make changes to their data collection methods until the Department of Education releases its guidelines. 
 
The Department of Education standards affect over 76 million students, including over 2.5 million students of mixed race who are currently forced to identify inappropriately. "Accurate data collection allows schools to obtain a clear picture of student diversity that is necessary to evaluate and fund many program needs," says Alfredo Padilla, MAVIN's Education Projects Manager who directed the OBIE effort. "It is important that the growing population of multiracial students have the right to properly identify themselves," he added.
 
The cards were delivered by students from Bryn Mawr College’s Mixed Company and Haverford College’s Under One Sky. As two of MAVIN's mixed heritage campus partner organizations, they joined many community and student organizations across the nation to raise awareness about the millions of multiracial students who are still forced to identify inappropriately.

MAVIN Foundation builds healthy communities that celebrate and empower mixed heritage people and families. Since 1998, MAVIN has invested over $2.5 million into innovative and award-winning projects focused on mixed heritage people, transracial adoptees, and multiracial families. Visit: www.mavinfoundation.org.

The Level Playing Field Institute is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that promotes innovative approaches to fairness in higher education and workplaces by removing barriers to full participation. They have participated in and funded activist research that explores stereotyping, bias and exclusionary behaviors in the workplace. In addition, their programs bridge resource gaps for talented underrepresented students from secondary through graduate school. Visit: www.lpfi.org.

The Association of MultiEthnic Americans is an international association of organizations dedicated to advocacy, education and collaboration on behalf of the multiethnic, multiracial and transracial adoption community. Visit: www.ameasite.org.

 





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