MIXED-RACE AWARENESS INITIATIVE BEGINS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

from the MAVIN Foundation

With support from the Level Playing Field Institute (LPFI), MAVIN Foundation is launching the Campus Awareness & Compliance Initiative (CACI), a new project to support mixed-race and transracially adopted students on college campuses.

Despite Census 2000's recognition of seven million mixed-race Americans, most colleges do not recognize the needs of their growing number of multiracial students. For instance, most application forms still require students to select only one race to describe themselves, thereby forcing mixed-race students to deny part of their heritage, rendering it statistically invisible. Due to outdated data collection software, students who select multiple races at some schools are purged from lists that designate students of color. CACI endeavors to create college campuses that support the full inclusion and participation of multiracial students.

CACI's 2004-2005 academic year pilot phase will partner with mixed-race student organizations at the University of Washington and Stanford University. Students representing UW's Mixed group and Stanford's Multiracial Identified Community at Stanford (MICS) will work with MAVIN and LPFI staff over the summer months and 2004-2005 academic year to achieve the following five goals:

• Work with multiracial student organizations to raise awareness of multiracial issues.
• Strengthen the infrastructure of multiracial student organizations.
• Work with multiracial students to get universities to comply with federal mandates.
• Increase multiracial student involvement on colleges and in local communities.
• Help multiracial students play pivotal roles in creating a safer, more respectful place for future generations of mixed race people.

A key piece of the CACI initiative is encouraging federally-mandated compliance with OMB Directive 15. This directs public institutions that collect demographic data on race to allow multiple race selection. "Many college campuses are not aware of the needs of their mixed race student body," says Alfredo Padilla, CACI Project Manager. "We want to provide students and administrators with the education and skills to be effective advocates for mixed-race issues on campus."

For more information, please visit www.mavinfoundation.org