Letter: E-minor is taking steps to be diverse

TO THE EDITOR: 

We were delighted with your editorial "Diversity Starts in the Classroom for Entrepreneurship," and your

suggestions for improving the Minor in Entrepreneurship were thoughtful and timely. As teaching

faculty for the Minor, we share your concerns and, as a result, last year we made diversity one of our

three priorities for 2016 and beyond.

Our first step was to increase diversity in our faculty (just as you suggested) and we arranged, largely

through private funding, to create our own “Mod Squad” of new Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (“EIRs”):

one white male, one white female and one African-American male. All three are experienced

entrepreneurs with deep experience in the “start-up” world.

Almost immediately, the texture and scope of conversations in the Minor changed. Our goal of

increased participation in the Minor by students of color and women has started to become a reality.

Our instructors and EIRs now look more like our student population. We have also embarked on the

following:

— Ongoing conversations with minority students and women to see how we can be more effective in

addressing their needs;

— Co-hosting a dinner with Dr. Taffye Clayton to help expose students of color to the benefits of

entrepreneurship in general and the E-Minor in particular;

— Beginning a partnership with Invictus, Durham's hot minority co-working space and inviting the co-

founder of Invictus to play a role on our instructional team;

— Creating a Memorandum of Understanding between the E-Minor and the Stone Center with the aim

of crafting a co-branded innovation space for thought leadership around the topic of diversity;

— Meeting with the Greek Alliance Council to update them on the E-Minor. Our approach to this group

of diverse leaders is that they don't have to be entrepreneurs to have a good life -- but they do need to

be entrepreneurial in their thinking. Further meetings with other fraternities and sororities are planned.

All of us on the E-Minor team are entrepreneurs, whether we hail from the world of start-ups or the

academic arena. We are wired to take risks, fail, get up, take risks and fail again all on the path to

eventual success. We are excited about where we are going, and look forward to attacking this diversity

issue with real thought leadership. George Addair said "Everything you want is on the other side of

fear." We are not afraid.

On behalf of the entire E-Minor Instructional Team and Staff:

Bernard Bell

Jan Davis

Buck Goldstein

Charles Merritt

Jed Simmons