There’s a new face at the
Boise State University Cultural Center. Rosario “Ro”
Alvarado-Parker began her new position as Cultural Center
coordinator on June 9, after working with the center as a
program assistant and interim coordinator during the spring
2003 semester.
The center provides a safe
atmosphere in which students are able to create relationships
on campus and ease into the adjustment of university life.
Alvarado-Parker will work with the university’s 13 ethnic
student organizations in planning community awareness events
while also striving to increase acceptance and awareness of
diversity issues on campus.
“I’d like the Cultural
Center to be a place where the rest of the campus can come for
information, training or resources in the area of diversity,”
she said. “The center is designed to support ethnic
organizations, but it’s also responsible for developing
awareness.”
Part of that awareness
involves educating students and others about cultural
differences and encouraging them to interact with people from
unfamiliar backgrounds. Alvarado-Parker is a strong supporter
of the proposed diversity initiative that would require
students to take classes designed to increase their cultural
awareness. That initiative was also supported by a survey of
recent graduates who said they would have liked more exposure
to diversity during their education.
“I’m really excited to be
a part of the work that needs to be done at Boise State,”
Alvarado-Parker said. “I’d like to see the Cultural Center
be a central part of the university environment — not just a
place for ethnic minority students, but somewhere all students
on campus can go to learn more about their own culture and
traditions.”
One thing that has really
impressed Alvarado-Parker is the support she has received from
the administration in identifying and developing programs to
address diversity concerns. Without that support, it’s
impossible to have a strong cultural awareness program, she
said. “We need to take the lead, but it’s everybody’s
responsibility.”
Alvarado-Parker is a 1992
Boise State graduate in elementary and bilingual education. A
native of the Ontario, Ore., area, she spent nine years
working for Treasure Valley Community College in the area of
student services. Her experience included diversity training
for faculty and staff, working with student clubs on diversity
dialogues and events, acting as adviser to the Bilingual
Education Student Organization and serving as chair of a
multicultural task force that trained college mentors to work
with at-risk Latino high school students.
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Contact
Ro Alvarado-Parker
Cultural Center
208 426-4317
Media Contact
Kathleen Craven
communications and marketing
208 426-3275
