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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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