Diversity-Equity-Inclusion

SCC Flyers Working Together…

Building, promoting, and sustaining a culture of excellence delivered through helpfulness and by providing opportunities, maintaining mutual respect, and preserving a commitment to integrity.

For more information, please contact Alfreda Stroman, Dean of Campus Diversity stromana@sandhills.edu

Diversity Inclusion Calendar Highlights

November Celebrations:

Native American Heritage Month (also known as National American Indian Heritage Month) celebrates the contributions and achievements of Native Americans. This November multicultural calendar gives you the chance to engage in issues related to the LGBTQ+, international, religious, Native American and Black communities. Native American Heritage Month was established in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush, who approved a joint resolution designating the celebration. It’s the best time of the year to note the important contributions of Native Americans, and the unique challenges they’ve faced in the past and present.

In addition to some general data from National websites, Sandhills Community College is giving the spotlight to two of our State’s Native American Communities each week, as we celebrate Native American Heritage throughout the month of November. This week, we would like to draw your attention to the Coharie Tribe and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation:
Coharie Tribe:
Centrally located in Clinton, where their NC headquarters is located, “the Coharie Indian Tribe descends from the aboriginal Neusiok Indian Tribe on the Coharie River in Harnett and Sampson counties. The community consists of four settlements: Holly Grove, New Bethel, Shiloh and Antioch.”
The Tribe has roughly 2,700 members, 20 percent of which reside outside their tribal communities. According to early historical records, “the tribe sought refuge from hostilities from both English colonists and Native peoples, moving to this area between 1729 and 1746 from the northern and northeastern part of the state.”

Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation:
According to the Cherokee people, “the Creator brought them to their home in the Mountains of western North Carolina.” Kituwah Mound in Swain County is the location of their first village site. At that site, “the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians formed a government to oppose the removal of the Cherokee Nation from the east, known as the Trail of Tears.” When their kinsmen were forced to go westward to Oklahoma, the members of the Eastern Band chose to remain in North Carolina.
Currently, their home is the 56,000-acre Qualla Boundary, which lies adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The tribe has more than 15,000 enrolled members, with over 60 percent of their community living on the Boundary. The Qualla Boundary includes many of the other communities, like the town of Cherokee. Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort can be found in Cherokee and is one of tribes largest employers.

Video: My Grandmother’s Granddaughter: Indigenous Resilience by Brittany Danielle Hunt

Please click on the links below for more information:

For more information on NC Tribal Communities

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Coharie Tribe

Facts for Features: American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month: November 2020

PBS Celebrates Native American Heritage Month

Native American Biographies

Please stop in the Boyd Library to view our Native American Heritage display

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. BLUE is the color to flaunt this November.

11/14/2020: Diwali Diwali is a Hindu holiday celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains worldwide. It’s a five-day festival of lights that may coincide with harvest and new year celebrations. Diwali celebrates different gods and goddesses, highlighting the triumph of good over evil, and light over darkness.

11/16: Dutch American Heritage Day The United States and the Netherlands have a longstanding friendship, commemorated on November 16^th each year. This holiday dates back to November 16, 1776, when the Netherlands was one of the first countries to recognize the United States as a sovereign nation. As a result, Congress declared a national holiday!

11/19: SCC Celebrates Native Pride with guest speaker lecturer: Dr. Leslie Locklear. Her Topic will be Who’z Ya People: Understanding Southeast American Indians via Zoom Link:

Meeting ID: 952 6502 7732

Passcode: 928507

Time: 1:00 PM

11/20: Transgender Day of Remembrance Established in 1999, it honors all transgender people who have lost their lives in anti-transgender violence. The day is a vigil to honor the memory of transgender woman Rita Hester. You can participate by attending and/or organizing a vigil on November 20 to honor those lost to transgender violence.

11/30: Birthday of Shirley Chisholm Happy Birthday to Shirley Chisholm! In 1968, she became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. She represented New York’s 12^th congressional district. In 1972, she was the first Black candidate for a majority party’s nomination for the president of the United States, as well as the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

Ted Talk links on the Fight for Civil Rights and Freedom:

John Lewis

Bryan Stevenson

Mini-Films for Exploring Race, Bias and Identity With Students:

What Being Hispanic and Latinx Means in the United States | Fernanda Ponce | TEDxDeerfield

A Conversation About Growing Up Black

A Conversation With White People On Race

Peanut Butter, Jelly and Racism

Check Our Bias to Wreck Our Bias

SCC Diversity Committee Members 2020-2021
Associate Professor Madie Ash
Associate Dean Kimberly Blue
Professor Sarah Bumgarner
Faculty Secretary Dana Cuellar
Professor Matthew Dial
AVP Human Resources Wendy Dodson
VP Germaine Elkins
HR Specialist Marina Figueroa
Sociology Instructor Dr. Maulin (Chris) Herring
Associate Professor Johnnerlyn Johnson
Professor Cathy Kruska
Dr. Celethia McMillian
Instructor Alex Patti
Associate Professor William "Bill" Pope
Professor Daniel Regalado
Instructor Sue Sheets
Professor Nevius Toney
Dean Julie Voigt
Professor Kim Wade
Associate Professor Wei Xiong

SCC Ethnic Race Demographics
	Students		Fac/Staff
	Count	% of Total	Count	% of Total
Am Ind	136	3%	6	0.02
Asian	53	1%	1	less than 1%
Black	741	16%	54	0.2
Foreign	10	less than 1%	0	0
Hispanic	552	12%	7	0.03
Hawaiin/Pac Isl	8	less than 1%	0	0
Multi Races	203	4%	0	0
Unknown	223	5%	0	0
White	2662	58%	196	0.74
Grand Total	4588		264