Winston Salem State, Appalachian State partner for inaugural Collegiate Multicultural Leadership Exchange

The inaugural Collegiate Multicultural Leadership Exchange (CMLE) was held October 27-28, 2016 on the campus of Appalachian State University.

The program, an initiative of the Walker College of Business' Diversity Advisory Team, aims to create a culturally diverse transformational educational experience through an atmosphere of learning, engagement, and productive dialogue between students, faculty, and staff from Appalachian State University and North Carolina System Colleges of Business. The 2016 program brought to campus ten undergraduate students from Winston Salem State University (WSSU) to learn about leadership, professional development and graduate programs.

The students were accompanied by WSSU Interim Dean of Students Jamar Banks, Senior Associate Dean Notis Pagiavlas, and Renaissance Minority Male Mentoring Program Coordinator Daymond Lindell.

The WSSU students were paired with MBA and Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management students from Appalachian, and they also interacted with faculty and staff from Appalachian's Black Faculty and Staff Association and the BB&T Student Leadership Center. The program received support from Appalachian's Office of Equity, Diversity and Compliance, the Office of the Chancellor, the Office of the the Provost, Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies and the Walker College of Business Dean's Club.

"To my knowledge, this is the first Historically Black Colleges and Universities exchange in our campus history," said CMLE Director Jamie Anderson Parson. "Nine out of ten of these students had never visited Appalachian, and many had not previously considered pursuing their MBA."

Parson is an assistant professor of finance, banking and insurance in the Walker College and leads the Walker College's Diversity Advisory Team.

By: Kesha Williams

WSSU students at Appalachian State University
Published: Nov 6, 2016 1:38am

Tags: