Consensus-Building &Commitment

An Interview with NCORE's Dr. Maggie Abudu

Conducted by Robin Bennefield

MEMPHIS - Are Asian Americans becoming honorary Whites? What is White Privilege? Ethnic Studies and American Studies: Friends or Enemies?
These were just a few of the provocative questions raised and pondered here during last month's National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE).
While the answers to these questions were complex and oftentimes hard to come by, most scholars of color attending the 12th annual NCORE conference seemed just glad for a chance to discuss issues of race and ethnicity with others who understood the isolation they often face on traditionally White college campuses.
Nearly 1,100 administrators, faculty, and students of color attended the five-day conference at the austere Peabody Hotel, blocks away from Beale Street. The 45 scheduled workshops, presentations, and case studies along with four keynote addresses from scholars representing all the ethnic groups attending- African, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American were drafted and designed to promote thought-provoking discussion and insightful solutions to the daily problems faculty, administrators, and students may face on campus.
Started 12 years ago as a response to rising racial violence across the country and on college campuses in the mid-1980s, NCORE's first conference was held at the University of Oklahoma in Norman with six workshops and two keynoters, drawing some 450 attendees. The conference continues to grow and maintain the support of the University of Oklahoma with annual state funding at approximately $125,000 each year.
Dr. Maggie Abudu, executive director of the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies at the University of Oklahoma and principal planner of NCORE, attributes strong partnerships between various ethnic groups and well-analyzed presentations to the growing success of one of the nation's largest conferences on race in higher education.
And Dr. Abudu's interest in race relations in higher education is not just professional, but personal as well, having successfully raised her two daughters from an interracial marriage.
In an interview with Black Issues Associate Editor Robin Bennefield, Dr. Abudu shares her thoughts on NCORE and race relations on today's college campuses.