Office of

SOCIAL EQUITY newsletter
LAVENDER graduation
The Presidential Commission on LGBT+ Concerns, with support from the
Office of the President and the Office of Social Equity, hosted the Second
Annual Lavender Graduation last spring. Fifteen graduates participated in
the event, which was held in the community room at Reinhard Villages. The
keynote speaker was Tyler Titus, the first openly transgender male to be
elected to office in Pennsylvania. Interim Chancellor Karen Whitney assisted
Social Equity director Amy Salsgiver in presenting the cords and pins for
the ceremony. This important event allows for greater understanding and
appreciation of diversity and inclusion.

Dear Clarion University family and friends,
I am very happy to share with you the continued
efforts the Office of Social Equity, with support from all
parts of the campus community, has made toward our
commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.
In spring 2018, we hosted the Second Annual
Lavender Graduation to acknowledge those Clarion
University students who identify as LGBT+ and/or allies.
We worked to be listed with Campus Pride as an LGBT
Friendly School. Nearly every department assisted in
the application process, and we are happy to announce
that we were awarded four out of five stars, giving us
status as a Premier Campus.
We also wanted to have a little fun, and we kicked off
our Equity Egg Scavenger Hunt last fall. We hid Equity
Eggs, rocks painted with positive messages, on Clarion
campus for students to find and post on social media.
We also created Equity Egg Hidden Pictures for our
online students. The eggs were hidden on Venango
campus in the spring.
Together, we promote an environment of civility
and common understanding. Through that work,
Clarion University truly is a wonderful place to live,
learn and grow.
Amy Salsgiver, director
Social Equity

Front row (from left) are Maxwell Dibble, Coralie Compere, Morgan Woodin, Emily Felcht,
Noelle Fretts; and second row, Andrew Skubisz, Franklin Markle, Brady Karg, Bradley Brummitt.

MEDICAL
EMERGENCY
PROVIDE
AID

MEET
EMERGENCY
RESPONDERS
DIRECT SOMEONE
TO MEET
EMERGENCY
RESPONDERS

IF YOU, OR SOMEONE
IN CLASS IS ABLE,
PROVIDE AID AS
APPROPRIATE

USE ONE
EXIT
DISMISS STUDENTS
THROUGH ONE
DIRECTED EXIT

REMAIN

CALL 911
OR DIRECT
SOMEONE TO
CALL 911

CLASSROOM
PROCEDURE

Immediately follow
procedure if someone
is having trouble breathing,
is unconscious or having
a severe allergic reaction.

WITH THE PERSON
SUFFERING MEDICAL
EMERGENCY UNTIL
EMERGENCY
RESPONDERS ARRIVE

SPONSORED BY THE OFFICE OF THE PROVOST, OFFICE OF SOCIAL EQUITY AND OFFICE OF DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES

The Offices of the Provost, Social Equity, Health and Wellness, Public Safety and
Disability Support Services collaborated to create a Medical Emergency Classroom Procedure. All classrooms on the Clarion and Venango campuses and the
Pittsburgh site were supplied with posters. To request posters, please contact
Amy Salsgiver at asalsgiver@clarion.edu.

Dakota Roberts (’18) grew up in Pittsburgh as one of two African
American students in his elementary and middle school classes. He
wasn’t always able to relate to the majority of his classmates, and
they weren’t always able to relate to him.
“I felt it was my job to educate and bring awareness about other
cultures,” Roberts said.
As a student at Clarion University, he continued to embrace that
role.
“I was the multicultural chair on the University Activities Board,
and I brought in people from different cultures to educate not only
the campus, but the community as well,” he said.
He believes that exposure to different cultures is important because of the growing diversity in our daily lives.
“Our country, workplaces and schools increasingly consist of various cultural, racial and ethnic groups. We can learn from one another, but first we must have a level of understanding about each
other,” Roberts said. “America is a melting pot, and we have to learn
to blend together.”
Roberts’ degree is in liberal studies with a concentration in women and gender studies and a minor in history. He kept his academic plate full, but he made time in his schedule to increase cultural
awareness at the university. In addition to UAB, he was involved with
Black Student Union, V-Day Project and Queens. His projects include
Cultural Week, Miss CU Pageant and Fashion Show.
“Clarion activities have made me more awake to the outside world.
They have brought enlightenment about different traditions and
customs, and I have gained many friends from around the world,” he
said. “The activities have also helped me to become more organized,
more social and better with time management.”
In addition to personal enrichment, he sees involvement as a plus
to his career.
“I bring a more diverse viewpoint to the table to help people work
with different individuals, no matter what their background is.”

equity EGG HUNT

Equity Eggs created by student Billianna Kovacs

Social Equity and the Presidential Commission on LGBT+ Concerns
coordinated the Social Media Clarion University Equity Egg Hunt for Clarion
Campus and Venango Campus and the Clarion Online Hidden Picture Equity
Egg contests. The on-campus events consisted of painted rocks with messages of equity, diversity and inclusion which were hidden on Clarion campus in
fall 2017 and on Venango campus in spring 2018. The hidden picture contest
was held in fall 2017. Participants were encouraged to find the eggs, post a
picture to social media with a hashtag and then re-hide the egg. Those who
found the eggs were entered into a drawing, and three winners were selected
for each contest. Freshman Billianna Kovacs designed and created the eggs
and the hidden pictures used for the online contest.

CLARION PRIDE
Clarion University earned four out of five stars on the Campus Pride Index, an overall
indicator of institutional commitment to LGBTQ-inclusive policy, program and practice.
Clarion is the only State System school to be listed as a Premier Campus.

SERVICE TO OTHERS
NEEDS TO BE contagious

Paul Klenowski’s mother, an emergency room nurse who
regularly saw people at their worst, taught him: Always do
the right thing, and always be positive, and it will always come
full circle.
His father, an English teacher who lived a life of service,
decorated his classroom with inspirational quotes. As a child,
Klenowski was mesmerized by the quotes. One that has stuck
with him is: “Many men go fishing all their lives without realizing it’s not the fish they’re after.”
His home state – West Virginia – has the kind of people, he
said, “who will stop and help you change a tire. We don’t have
a whole hell of a lot, but what we have, we share.”
Klenowski is the recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Community Award, and he credits those influences for shaping him
into the person he is.
“The idea of helping others is part of who I am,” he said. “I
was raised by my family and learned from my teachers, professors, coaches the idea of sacrifice, of helping others. Who
is in need? What can I do to help?”

One of his favorite examples is a troop of African-American
Girl Scouts from Youngstown, who, in the summer of 2016 decided to donate money they had been saving for a trip to a
water park to victims of devastating flooding in West Virginia.
The girls had never been to a swimming pool, but they saw
what was going on in West Virginia and wanted to help.
“With all the money they saved, they took a van with
305,000 miles on it, went to the most ravaged area of the
flood, made contact with a church and presented a check to
the pastor. Then they stayed several days, cleaning houses
and handing out food. They said it was just the right thing to
do,” Klenowski said.
Touched, Klenowski contacted the troop and arranged to
meet the scouts and buy ice cream for them while they shared
details of their trip. He bought passes to Waldameer Park in
Erie for the girls and gave each one spending money, and he
provided gas money to the troop leaders.
“They had to act, then I had to act. There was the ripple
effect,” he said. “One young girl, a couple of months before,
had lost everything in a house fire. So many people came to
help her and her mom – she knew she had to help others. It
can become contagious in a positive way. We need it to be
more contagious.”

It doesn’t have to be a sweeping change.
“If you impact one person’s life, you’ve made a difference.”
In his criminal justice classes, he tries to instill the idea of
serving others. He said law enforcement is much like nursing
and teaching in that you’re helping others, preparing others,
serving others.
“They’ll be seeing people, a lot of times, at their worst – a
kid getting in trouble, someone overdosing,” he said.
He tells his students to take that extra step, to follow up with
these people – help them get into treatment or back on their
feet.
“Turn on the news and it’s absolute chaos. I can’t change
what’s going on, but what I can do on an individual level and
local level is help the people close to me,” Klenowski said.
“That’s what I pass on to my students: What can I do here, in
the given time?”
A key to serving others is not expecting anything in return.

It is the policy of Clarion University of Pennsylvania that there shall be equal opportunity in all of its educational programs, services, and benefits, and there shall be no discrimination with regard to a student’s or prospective student’s gender, gender identity, race or color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, religion or creed, genetic information, affectional or sexual orientation, veteran status, or other classifications that are protected under
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other pertinent state and federal laws and regulations. Direct inquiries to the Title IX Coordinator,
Clarion University of Pennsylvania, 103 Carrier Administration Building, sfenske@clarion.edu or phone 814-393-2351, or the Director of Social Equity, 210 Carrier Administration Building 16214-1232; Email asalsgiver@clarion.edu or phone
814-393-2109. Inquiries may also be directed to the Director of the Office for Civil Rights, Department of Education, 330 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201.
The Social Equity Newsletter is published periodically by the Office of Social Equity, Clarion University, 840 Wood Street, Clarion, PA 16214-1232. Articles within the publication reflect the philosophy
of the office and do not necessarily represent the official position of Clarion University