From the Desk of Diversity
Northwestern's Diversity & Inclusion Newsletter
April 2014
- Spring Break Activities for FREE
- National Donate Life Month
- Communication Matters
- Thank You!!
- Get Involved
- Apply for a Scholarship
- Learning & Training Opportunities
Spring Break Activities for FREE
- Ongoing - Fon du Lac Ojibwe textile artist, Maggie Thompson, has a showing at the All My Relations Gallery
- Ongoing - Siberia: Imagined and Reimagined at the Weisman Art Museum
- April 18 - Critical Conversations: Who Counts as What? Promise and Tensions of International and Domestic Diversity
- April 22 - Earth Day - Make and fly a kite!! Wishes for the Sky, celebrates several Asian cultures' traditions of making kites and attaching wishes to them. The event will take over Harriet Island. There will be outdoor yoga and a drum circle to round out the day.
- April 24 - The Art and Science of Resilience: From Surviving to Thriving. Dr. Joan Borysenko's work on mind-body medicine and the field of psychoneuroimmunology make her talk a fantastic fit for our university community.
- April 29 - "Doctrine of Discovery" Documentary showing at Hamline University in honor of the Dakota Genocide and in conjunction with Minnesota Genocide and Awareness Month.
We look forward to seeing you all in May.
National Donate Life Month
April is National Donate Life Month raising awareness about organ and tissue donation in the US. This topic is important to those of us in healthcare fields, since our patients or clients might raise questions with us about organ and tissue donation, and we'd like to be prepared to talk with them. Donation is also important for us as individuals, since it's the last gift we can give. Donation advocates advise: if you register to donate, talk to your family about your decision. Knowing your wishes ahead of time can make the process easier on your family.
Key facts on the need for donation:
- Currently, nearly 122,000 people are waiting for organ transplants nationally. There are 3,500 on the list in Minnesota.
- Every day, 18 people die while waiting for an organ.
- Additionally, over 1 million people need tissue transplants.
Key facts about donation itself:
- Up to eight organs can be donated - lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas, small intestine, heart.
- Many tissues can be donated - including eyes, skin, bone, veins, heart valves, and connective tissues.
- Donations from one person can help up to 60 other people.
- Donation costs nothing for the donor or the donor's family.
- You can donate organs or tissues and still have an open casket funeral or viewing.
- You can donate organs or tissues and still donate your body for medical research or education (anatomical bequest).
- No one is too young or old or sick to be considered for donation. Medical teams make the determination of donor qualification at the time of death.
- In MN, you can register to be a donor by checking the donor registration box on your driver's license application or by visiting http://donatelifeMN.org to register online.
The need for organ donation disproportionately affects ethnic/racial minority populations including African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics/Latinos. Some of the diseases and conditions that can lead to a need for transplantation, such as diabetes or end-stage renal disease, are more prevalent in these groups. Donation is most often successful when a donor is from the same ethnic/racial group, since matching blood types and tissue markers are most common within ethnic groups. While donation is typically proportional across ethnic/racial groups, the need is higher among non-white populations. Increasing organ donation by non-whites may increase access to transplantation for more people in need.
Submitted by Monica Howell, mhowell@nwhealth.edu
Communication Matters
More than 20% of the American population speak a language other than English at home. Spanish is the most frequently spoken non-English language in the United States. Northwestern Health Sciences University has a course offering, Spanish for Health Professionals, that is designed to prepare practitioners for compassionate care models that offer linguistic equity for Spanish speakers within our clinics and practices.
Submitted by Beau Foshee, wfoshee@nwhealth.edu
Thank You!!
We asked you to post what you thought diversity meant to you on a bulletin board. Check out the gorgeous Wordle graphic we made from it (see below). Notice what words stand out, terms like understanding, celebrating, different, gender, like, love, perspectives, people, space, supportive, name, and individuality. It sounds like everyone just wants to be respected and cared for as they are with no boundaries. That is the way it is at Northwestern and that is the way it should be everywhere. Our community really appreciates the beauty in our diversity. Thank you for creating it with us.
We would like to thank the following organizations for coming to NWHSU and participating:
- Open Arms of Minnesota
- The Center for Victims of Torture
- Bloomington Public Schools Volunteer Connection
- Gorkha Palace
- Simon Says Give
- Minnesota AIDS Project
- Children's Lighthouse of Minnesota
- The Northwestern students, staff, and faculty who organized the event
These organizations are always looking for volunteers. Please reach out to them or we can help you get in contact with a volunteer coordinator to get you started.
We would also like to thank you for your kind food and monetary donations to our food drive. We will be donating the items to Loaves and Fishes at 9801 Penn Ave S, Bloomington, MN. We will always be collecting food and monetary donations - if you have something, you are welcome to bring it by the Office of Diversity & Inclusion.
Thank you, Northwestern, for making our academic experience great!
Submitted by Dr. Alejandra Estrin Dashe, adashe@nwhealth.edu
Get Involved with Diversity & Inclusion
- Join our MN AIDS Walk Team
- Next Book Club: Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity Worldwide
- Join one of our cultural clubs.
- Want to write for From the Desk of Diversity? Book Club book suggestion? Engaging diversity activity idea? Contact Dr. Dashe at adashe@nwhealth.edu.
Learning & Training Opportunities
Office of Diversity & Inclusion
Email: diversity@nwhealth.edu
Website: http://nwhealth.edu/diversity/
Location: Northwestern Health Sciences, West 84th Street, Bloomington, MN, United States
Phone: 952-888-4777 235
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Northwestern-Diversity-Inclusion/678001138890536
Twitter: @NWHSU_Diversity
Senior Editor
Director, Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Assistant Professor, College of Undergraduate Health Sciences
Email: adashe@nwhealth.edu
Website: http://www.nwhealth.edu/undergraduate-studies/faculty-directory/estrindashealejandra/
Editor
Student, College of Chiropractic
Email: wfoshee@nwhealth.edu
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/beau-foshee/a/58b/493