[Archived] Alexandria City Council Hosts Student Forum on Race and Culture


News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:	Wednesday, November 3, 1999
Contact:	Angelita Plemmer, City Manager's Office, (703) 838-4300; Bert Ransom, Jr., Special Assistant to the City Manager for Human Relations, (703) 838-4971

Alexandria City Council Hosts Student Forum on Race and Culture

City Continues Call to Community Initiative

The Alexandria City Council and the Alexandria City School Board will sponsor a Student Forum on Race and Culture on Wednesday, November 10, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, at the Episcopal High School Field House located at 3900 W. Braddock Road, Alexandria.

Students representatives from T.C. Williams High School, George Washington and Francis C. Hammond middle schools, Minnie Howard Ninth Grade School, Saint Stephens and Saint Agnes, Bishop Ireton and Episcopal high schools will be participating. Rabbi Jack Moline of Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria will serve as the moderator of the forum. Musical entertainment will be provided by E.U.’s Sugar Bear and Ju Ju.

Under the auspices of the Call to Community initiative, student volunteers in grades 9-12 planned the event, identifying racial and cultural topics facing the community.

"Public and private school students are providing an opportunity for the entire City’s student population to be a part of Alexandria’s efforts to foster positive racial and cultural relations," said Bert Ransom, special assistant to the city manager for the Department of Human Relations. The forum is part of a series of school-wide programs and projects designed to foster better understanding and communication across racial and cultural lines.

There are approximately 46 languages spoken and 66 countries represented among the City’s nearly 11,000 public school students. And, according to the 1990 U.S. Census, Alexandria ranked first in Virginia and 39th in the nation among jurisdictions having the most racially and culturally diverse populations.

In February 1998, the Alexandria City Council adopted a resolution to initiate the Call to Community program designed to engage residents in dialogue and to promote positive action on issues concerning race and diversity. Encouraged by President Clinton’s national initiative to explore dialogue across racial and cultural lines, a diverse Steering Committee, co-chaired by Vice Mayor Bill Euille and Council Member Lonnie C. Rich, was established.

The goal of the Call to Community program is to initiate citizen involvement across cultural lines to empower citizens to address critical issues such as education, economic opportunity, housing, crime and health care.