Wortham to enrich multicultural efforts

Wittenberg long ago officially committed energy and resources to ensure that the campus community is as much as possible a mirror of the greater society.

The result today is a campus that more closely reflects the dynamic diversity of America than most other similar colleges. Forest Wortham hopes to keep it that way.

As the new director of multicultural student programs, Wortham wants to continue to emphasize multiculturalism in the whole fabric of Wittenberg.

“We can talk multiculturalism, we can talk programming, and we can teach multiculturalism, but it needs to be part of the whole,” he said.

A Detroit, Mich. native with 19 years of higher education experience in student affairs, Wortham also wants to provide students with direction and the necessary resources they need to survive.

“I envision the multicultural program as a one-stop information resource for students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members.”

Referring to the 1987 book, Workforce 2000: Work and Workers for the 21st Century, by William B. Johnston and Arnold H. Packer, Wortham explained that minorities and women will make up a steadily increasing proportion of the workforce in the new millennium.

“Our job, the department’s job, is to help minorities, women and European Americans prepare to take their role in this new society,” he said.

In addition, Wortham hopes to encourage more diversity of thought on campus. “We need to think and listen outside of the box,” he said, adding that “people don’t have to agree, but they do need to hear different perspectives, which is the beginning of living and learning in a diverse community.”

To accomplish these goals, Wortham looks forward to being involved with Concerned Black Students, the Womyn’s Center, the admission process, orientation activities and a host of other activities in an effort to reach an even higher level of sensitivity and awareness of multiculturalism both on- and off-campus.

“Each one of us is responsible for carrying the multicultural banner in the community on- and off-campus.”

Wortham earned his doctorate in adult education from The Pennsylvania State University, and he holds an educational specialist degree in school and community psychology from Wayne State University and a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from the University of Detroit.

He received his bachelor’s degree from French Schiller College in Paris, France, and he previously served as the director of special projects for the Fort Myers Housing Authority in Florida and as director of student development at Florida Gulf Coast University.