Media Contact:
Erin Tofte-Nordvik, director of diversity, equity and inclusion, (509) 682-6868
Livia Millard, multicultural affairs coordinator-Omak, (509) 422-7814
Libby Siebens, community relations executive director, (509) 682-6436 (Mon. – Thurs.)

In collaboration with YWCA, Wenatchee Valley College will present a Stand Against Racism event on the Omak campus Wednesday, April 25. This event is free and open to the public.

The event will begin in the native garden at 10 a.m., transition to the courtyard at noon and conclude in the Hazel Allen Burnett Hall at 4 p.m. There will be an opening ceremony featuring a native honor song performed by the Omak Red Road Association, followed by opening remarks Opening remarks will be given by Dr. Jim Richardson, WVC president; Jenny Pratt, YWCA executive director; and Cindy Gagne, Omak mayor. The event will feature community members, WVC faculty, staff and students, and keynote speakers Dr. Gabriela Moreno and Frank Leon Roberts. 

The schedule of events in the native garden includes:

• 10:30 a.m.: “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women” presentation by Earth Feather Sovereign, Colville tribal member
• 11 a.m.: “White Privilege, Colorblindness & Institutional Racism” presentation by Erin Tofte-Nordvik, WVC director of diversity, equity and inclusion
• 11:30 a.m.: “Intersectionality of Race, Citizenship & Sexuality - A Student Perspective” presentation by Rozie Escobedo, QSA Club vice president

The event will then transition to the courtyard, where lunch will be provided by the Associated Students of WVC at Omak (ASWVCO) and a moment of silence will be held. Afterward, events will continue:

• 12:15 p.m.: “Finding Your Political Voice” presentation by Kelly Anderson, WVC faculty
• 1 p.m.: “Mean Green: Nation Building Within Walls and Borders” presentation by Dr. Gabriela Moreno, New Mexico State University faculty

Finally, a documentary will be screened from 2-4 p.m. in Hazel Allen Burnett Hall.

• 2 p.m.: “Strong Island” screening. The documentary chronicles a black American director and what happened to his family after his brother William Ford, Jr. was shot dead by a white mechanic in Long Island, New York, in 1992. The killer was questioned but never charged.

More information is available at wvc.edu/StandAgainstRacism.

Sponsors for this event include: the YWCA; WVC Student Senate (Wenatchee and Omak); the WVC office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Omak campus Multicultural Affairs; Omak Red Road Association; WVC College Assistance Migrant Program; WVC Chicano/a Studies; Wenatchee City Diversity Advisory Council; Molina HealthCare; Cascade Auto Center; Together for Youth; United Way of Chelan and Douglas Counties; and Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.

A Stand Against Racism event will also be held on the WVC Wenatchee campus April 26 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Wenatchee Valley College enriches North Central Washington by serving educational and cultural needs of communities and residents throughout the service area. The college provides high-quality transfer, liberal arts, professional/technical, basic skills and continuing education for students of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds. Visit our website, wvc.edu.