April 30, 2025 Breakfast meeting notes

 

Many thanks to Sharon Thorne for taking these notes in the secretary’s absence.

 

Our guests today was Bruce Pacht from Lebanon Rotary Club who attended on line.

Omer, Sharon and Bruce also attended online.

 

The 50/50 was won by Mike, who gave the money to Tom.

Card game went to Alicia, who did not draw the Ace of Spades.

Happy Dollars were shared by Raisa, Denise and Mike.

 

Phil did a Rotary Minute about Rotary history. Rotary was created to bring members of different professions together and encourage collaborations for community projects.  Beth mentioned that the first woman Rotarians were inducted in 1989 and Beth was first woman member for Bristol Rotary Club.

 

Raisa will do her fireside chat today. Ted from Lincoln Woodstock and a couple other guests will attend.

 

Denise made several announcements. The District meeting will be held this weekend and the mini golf team is ready to go.  White Mountain Pickleball club is trying to get a Rotary night on May 6th. Our club has also received a Community Partners award from PSU. Mike too the photo below of Beth, Alicia and Denise accepting the award and he will forward the picture to the District.

 

 

Circle clean up will be May 17th and 18th. Beth will bring a sign up sheet next Wednesday.  Lunch will be provided.

 

District Conference will be held on May 30th and 31st at Mt Cranmore Resort.  Sign up if interested. There are great activities, dinner and speakers, including hearing about the Peace Center and Peace Conference in Istanbul last February.  Hear about the Peace efforts. You can get a room at the Fairfield Inn for a discounted rate. Go to Rotary District 7850.org to get more info and to sign up.

 

The Plymouth cleanup date will be Saturday June 14th, instead of the Kanc cleanup. Lora will provide more details at a future meeting.

 

 

Our speaker today, Alberto Ramos of PSU, was introduced by Nancy. He is their Chief Diversity Officer.

 

Alberto spoke to us 3 years ago as a new staff member of PSU.  There have been new changes federally and state wide since then.  His position is still that of DEI department/officer. His position was created after the George Floyd movement and it is a very small part of the school’s budget. There is a lot of misunderstanding about DEI and PSU is still committed to encouraging diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.  DEI is not illegal, but the question is how PSU can continue to be an open campus.  How can it keep the movement going by using new terminology?  

 

PSU does not have any programs that are restrictive.  The university is trying to analyze scholarships to make sure they are not having preference for one group over another, but other than that the process is the same.  They are also analyzing the state changes.  NH State funding is a small part of the budget. 

 

Going forward PSU is trying to use language that is more inclusive to everyone.  Many people have a misunderstanding about the laws. Alberto took a number of questions from the audience.

 

Alicia mentioned a podcast she was listening to about sports teams on campus and their racial and ethnic makeup.  Alberto reports that at PSU, people of color make up about 7% of the student body but are about 25% of the members of athletic teams.  It is also important to address Title IX and make sure the school complies.

 

Phil commented that the label of “DEI” is disparaged but the underlying value of diversity and inclusion efforts are still beneficial.  The Biden administration seemed to target certain groups over others.  Phil asked Albert if he thinks the underlying values are still good, or if things need to change.  Alberto responded that in 2022 he noticed some push back on DEI, including DEI for religious belliefs, but he also felt that there was a lot of energy in favor of the efforts behind the initiative. So DEI doesn’t mean just BLM, or programs for people of color.  The goal is to be moving beyond diversity and toward pluralism.

 

Beth asked if the State representatives  are interested in discussing DEI efforts and offices. Alberto has had meetings and conversations with some of our reps.  The purpose is to ensure success for all students.  It’s good to keep the conversations going.

 

Raisa asked how the school or his position have changed.  Alberto said that not much has really changed. He did go over the job description to update to a new language and make it more strategic.  It still focuses on all students and makes the organization better.

 

Alicia then asked what Alberto has changed since 3 years ago. Alberto noted that there is a return on the investment to increase enrollment with students of color, as increasing numbers of them have boosted the size of the student body. Overall the University has seen a reduced enrollment in white students and an increase in students of color and immigrant population, as well as out of state students.

 

Omer said that he is an old man and when he joined Rotary 45 years ago, he learned about Rotary’s policy and the 4-Way Test of the things we think, say and do. These are the things Rotarians do to help the community at all levels.

 

Denise asked how Rotary can include everyone in an ongoing discussion about mental health. Alberto has seen an increase in mental health helpers, counselors etc. but there is still a waitlist to see a counselor. DEI issues can be a driver for mental health issues. Students who are experiencing problems with wellbeing and adversity as a result of DEI concerns can benefit from talking to someone, such as a social worker or a peer mentors. These conversations can help students to improve their mental health and also helps to improve attendance.  Members of marginalized groups may benefit from counseling as well.  Alberto noted that students may find attending PSU challenging if there is not enough for them to do here or if they have difficulty connecting with others who have similar backgrounds and concerns.

 

Nancy asked how PSU can attract more students of color.  Alberto works with the admissions office, but does not work in that department.  He reiterated that PSU is seeing an increase in enrollment of students of color and a decline in white students.  More students are coming from MA; these are often students of color. He feels that the university can offer more scholarships to encourage higher enrollment for all.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lora Miller, secretary