NEWS
 The University of Texas at Austin 26th Annual Heman Marion Sweatt Symposium on Civil Rights begins Feb. 8 with the theme, Advancing Solutions for Men of Color in Higher Education. The symposium includes four panel discussions and dialogs in February, March and April and culminates with the Heman Marion Sweatt Legacy Award black tie reception on May 4. The UT Latino Male Symposium will also be held on May 4 as a special event of the Sweatt Symposium.
A 2010 report published by the College Board Advocacy and Policy Center has generated a growing focus on males underrepresented in institutions of higher education. The report connects the disparate educational outcomes of young men with sobering statistics about unemployment, poverty, and incarceration. It reveals the barriers that males of color experience as they navigate the education system in the United States.
The University of Texas at Austin’s largest day of service, called The Project, is expanding in February 2012 to include alumni and friends of UT around the nation.
The Project has been sponsored by the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement’s Volunteer and Service Learning Center for the past 13 years and this year, is partnering with the Ex-Students’ Association for Texas Exes Care about The Project.
On Feb. 25, about 2,000 student, faculty and staff volunteers will work with the residents of Dove Springs in Austin on neighborhood improvement projects. Throughout the month of February, alumni chapters around the country have planned service projects in their own communities.
For more information on how to get involved, visit The Project’s registration website or the Texas Exes’ website.
The outstanding work of Dr. Sherri Sanders, associate vice president for strategic initiatives, and the DDCE Strategic Planning Team was recognized by the university’s Office of Institutional Accreditation and Program Assessment (IAPA) in its spring 2012 newsletter. The article touts DDCE’s process and gives Sanders’ top tips for successful strategic planning. “When we started on this journey, we only had a mission statement,” said Sanders. “We now have a vision and seven value statements reflecting the heart and soul of our work. We also have four cutting-edge strategic goals and a manageable process for achieving them.”
 The DDCE is pleased to announce that the Mitte Foundation has funded the pilot Web-based Rhetoric and Writing course (RHE 306) offered as part of the Students Partnering for Undergraduate Rhetoric Success (SPURS) program. The $15,500 grant will make it possible for SPURS to offer students at participating high schools the chance to earn college credit as well as high school credit for Advanced English Language Arts class.
 The Gender and Sexuality Center and Queer People of Color and Allies (QPOCA) are hosting the First Annual Gloria Anzaldúa Luncheon: Honoring Feminists of Color on Friday, Feb. 10 in the Student Activities Center Ballroom, The University of Texas at Austin from noon-2 p.m.
The keynote speaker for the luncheon is playwright, poet and essayist Cherríe Moraga. Along with Anzaldúa, Moraga edited This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, published in 1981. She is currently an artist in residence in the Department of Drama at Stanford University where she teaches Creative Writing, Xicana-Indigenous Performance, Latino/Queer Performance, Indigenous Identity in Diaspora in the Arts and Playwriting. Moraga recently completed a new collection of writings, A Xicana Codex of Changing Consciousness: A Decade of Discourse.
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