Dr. Nido Qubein
On Tuesday, March 29th, 2016, the faculty Diversity Committee address an open public discussion with Dr. Nido Qubein. Dr. Moses is the founder and head of the committee. The committee asked a series of questions to Dr. Qubein about diversity issues happening at HPU.
1. Why don't we have an office of diversity (Multicultural Office)?
Dr. Qubein answered this question beautifully. He is all for it. He takes pride in being a global University. He considers himself to be a minority, even in his own country, Jordan, he felt like a minority. Jordan is made up of 95% muslims, and he was a Christian. When he moved to the US he was considered Arabic. He mentioned that it takes time and money to implement new offices. When the Multicultural Office takes place he wants it to be streamline. It's going to be a process. It is difficult to just quickly start something.
2. The next questions had to do with Freedom of Expression. Can students have protests on campus?
Dr. Tuttle, Vice President For Student Life, answered this question. She mentioned that there is a poster policy and that the comments are managed because the University doesn't want it to be used for hate and anger towards other students. She also said that protests were allowed on school grounds. They have to be orderly and adhere to policies.
3. African American Students feel security is unfair to them. Is there a reason why there is more security at African American parties?
Dr. Qubein answered this fairly upset. He wanted to know specifics, when, who and where. He wanted to get to the bottom of this. Every student has the same rights and should be treated equally. He will take responsibility for anyone that doesn't get the answer they need. He does not like silos. If one office doesn't know the answer they should call somebody to find out the answer instead of just sending them to another office. If they cannot find an answer ask Dr. Qubein, he'll be happy to answer.
4. Diversity in curriculum. How or where is this being offered?
Dr. Carroll answered this question. He said currently there is diversity in the curriculum offered, especially in education and communications majors. He also mentioned that there is talk about starting a minor in diversity. They will do a better job at making students aware of what classes offer diversity.
There was also a follow up question about hiring minorities as professors at HPU. Dr. Carroll said they hope that the biology position that was offered to a black male is accepted. They offered it to him and now they are waiting for his response.
Dr. Qubein added that HPU has about the same number of African American students as Elon. HPU has about 6% and Elon has 8%. He mentioned he's unsure why it is like this and how to change it. He also said that students needed to be here when he first got there. They had nothing. The current students are spoiled because they weren't here when it was old buildings and much smaller. Now they have everything they could want.
5. What concrete steps is HPU taking to increase diversity with faculty?
Dr. Qubein responds by saying nothing would please him more to have a more diverse faculty and staff. HPU will begin to advertise positions nationally, just as they did for the biology position.
6. What scholarships are offered?
Dr. Qubein believes in scholarships. He gave away 800 from his foundation. HPU can't be compared to Duke who has $8 billion, and HPU only has $30 million. He mentioned that they enhanced scholarships 6 times since the beginning. He also said that the MLK scholarships happen because of HPU who pays for them. He paid for first generation college students. He even said that just looking out in the audience there are two students he'd given scholarships. He says the day will come when they can offer more scholarships. He does what he can to increase that, but there's never enough money to fund everything.
7. What year do you see us to grow?
Dr. Qubein said that millions of dollars have been raised to build attractive, pleasing buildings, that way they can attract more students. HPU still needs a science undergraduate building, library, and another residence hall. He hopes that in 4 or 5 years the infrastructure will be taken care of and then they can focus on endorsements. He also mentioned that a lot of people don't want to give in a fund somewhere. Dr. Qubein mentioned how he borrowed $100 million and everyone thought he was crazy. But he persevered and believed it would happen. Dr. Qubein envisioned something great and made it happen. He wants students to have a good experience. He never wants to hear that students hate this school and that they're just here because they are on scholarship. He strongly believes that HPU is one community and family. He even mentioned his goal, which is to be excellent, not perfect.
One can easily tell how much Dr. Qubein loves HPU. He is open to add a multicultural office and he encourages someone to step-up and make it happen. Don't just come to him with an idea. Make it happen. He will always support. This was a great discussion and I don't think anyone left feeling upset or disheartened. Dr. Qubein has students from all over the world attending HPU. This is a multicultural school. He is very supportive of the idea.
Dr. Qubein responds by saying nothing would please him more to have a more diverse faculty and staff. HPU will begin to advertise positions nationally, just as they did for the biology position.
6. What scholarships are offered?
Dr. Qubein believes in scholarships. He gave away 800 from his foundation. HPU can't be compared to Duke who has $8 billion, and HPU only has $30 million. He mentioned that they enhanced scholarships 6 times since the beginning. He also said that the MLK scholarships happen because of HPU who pays for them. He paid for first generation college students. He even said that just looking out in the audience there are two students he'd given scholarships. He says the day will come when they can offer more scholarships. He does what he can to increase that, but there's never enough money to fund everything.
7. What year do you see us to grow?
Dr. Qubein said that millions of dollars have been raised to build attractive, pleasing buildings, that way they can attract more students. HPU still needs a science undergraduate building, library, and another residence hall. He hopes that in 4 or 5 years the infrastructure will be taken care of and then they can focus on endorsements. He also mentioned that a lot of people don't want to give in a fund somewhere. Dr. Qubein mentioned how he borrowed $100 million and everyone thought he was crazy. But he persevered and believed it would happen. Dr. Qubein envisioned something great and made it happen. He wants students to have a good experience. He never wants to hear that students hate this school and that they're just here because they are on scholarship. He strongly believes that HPU is one community and family. He even mentioned his goal, which is to be excellent, not perfect.
One can easily tell how much Dr. Qubein loves HPU. He is open to add a multicultural office and he encourages someone to step-up and make it happen. Don't just come to him with an idea. Make it happen. He will always support. This was a great discussion and I don't think anyone left feeling upset or disheartened. Dr. Qubein has students from all over the world attending HPU. This is a multicultural school. He is very supportive of the idea.
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