A celebration was held last week to officially launch OUWB’s Culture 365 initiative — a year-round commitment to honor the richness of the school’s diverse identities and experiences.
Held Oct. 9, the kickoff featured several speakers along with performances aimed at celebrating differences and helping attendees understand the intent of Culture 365.
Attendees of the event held in the atrium of O’Dowd Hall included OUWB administrators, faculty, staff, and students.
All were welcomed by Tonya Bailey, Ph.D., associate dean, Diversity & Inclusion and Community Engagement, who announced a “new year of connection, creativity, and culture.” She said the theme of the year is “Celebrating Differences, Strengthening Connections, and Building Unity 365.”
“It beautifully captures the spirit of who we are as well as who we aspire to be,” she said. “Culture 365 isn’t just an event, or a month, but rather a movement … our shared commitment to celebrating one another every day of the year through our stories, traditions, acts of kindness, recognition of others, and pursuit of belonging.”
Christopher Carpenter, M.D., Stephan Sharf Dean, shared in the excitement.
“I’m reminded of our school’s mission to develop physicians who are not only skilled but compassionate,” he said.
“One of the key reasons OUWB develops compassionate physicians is because we believe in cultural awareness.”
Carpenter described cultural awareness as “recognizing, understanding, and respecting our patients’ diverse cultural backgrounds.”
By example, he pointed to a recent exhibition presented by the Global Health Advocates (an OUWB student organization) called, “The World Pulse: A Narrative on Global Health.” The exhibit centered on the idea that good health is determined by many factors, including some that are not in our control such as war and systemic violence.
With a goal of creating other exhibits that address similar lessons, Carpenter announced the launch of Culture 365 Exhibition Grant Opportunities — funding available to support the development of an exhibit, a workshop, or “any creative program.” The first grant exhibit will be Oct. 20, when the South Asian Medical Outreach Student Association is set to present the “Festival of Lights.”
“We hope that the grants will encourage students and student interest groups, staff and faculty members to promote cultural awareness to the entire school,” said Carpenter.
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Stephanie Marcincavage, director, Clinical Skills |
M2 Paige Pistotti, president, Medical Student Government (MSG), followed Carpenter. Pistotti said it’s been a priority for her as MSG president to foster further collaboration between OUWB officials and students to make everyone feel welcome.
“OUWB does a great job of teaching us clinical skills, getting those high test scores … with a program like this it makes me feel like the school (also) cares about the type of doctors they’re creating, (and) the people that they’re sending out in this world,” she said.
The first performer was Greg Ashe, associate director, Financial Services. Ashe sings with the Detroit Opera and has sung with the Cincinnati Opera and International Opera Theater of Philadelphia. He sang an aria from Franz Lehar’s “The Land of Smiles.”
Next up was Trixy Hall, coordinator, Graduate Studies and Community Outreach. Her spoken word performance was called “My Sock Drawer” — a piece intended to help others think about culture and how we work together differently.
Stephanie Marcincavage, director, Clinical Skills Training and Simulation Center, and her sister, Genevieve Stokan, performed a traditional Polish dance, and the grand finale was an energetic performance from drum and dance troupe Ngoma Za Amen-Ra.
Bailey said having so many participants involved in launching Culture 365 reflects the overall intent of the initiative.
“It’s important to let our community know that they’re valued, they’re seen, and that our differences make us stronger,” she said. “Today’s event embodies all of that.”
Students said they appreciated the opportunity to celebrate differences.
“Especially given the current climate and all of the division that we see going on in the world today … it’s invaluable to bring so many people close together,” Pistotti said after the performances.
M2 Reem Fawaz shared similar feelings.
“It’s important to recognize the many diverse communities, students, faculty, and staff at OUWB,” she said. “Making sure that it’s an all-year-round initiative is really important and means a lot to the students.”
For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, senior marketing specialist, OUWB, at [email protected].
To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.
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