THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9509290206
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 25 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HOLLY WESTER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
If experience is a true marker of knowledge, then Linda S. Berry is an expert on multicultural affairs.
From her childhood as a black female in an all-Italian neighborhood to her life on the front lines of the civil rights movement to her activism on college campuses, Berry's background in issues of diversity is substantial.
``I have dealt with diversity my whole life,'' she said. ``It's something I live, eat and breathe.''
Virginia Wesleyan College has been the most recent stop on Berry's roadmap of experience: She recently signed on as multicultural affairs coordinator.
Berry defines multicultural as ``a diverse blending of people, their concepts, ideas, values and beliefs.''
Her interest in this ``blending'' was born in her hometown of Winchester, Mass., or ``Little Italy,'' as she calls it, where she ``learned to cook by smell.'' After marrying the pastor of her mother's church, Benjamin, in 1964, Berry started on the path that would lead her into a variety of communities.
In 1966, the couple moved from Nashville, Tenn., to Louisville, Ky., where they first became ``enmeshed'' in the Civil Rights Movement. Berry remembers one afternoon on the street in front of her home. She watched from the window as her then 3-year-old daughter, Thena, stuffed daisies down the gun barrels of National Guardsmen.
``I was a displaced Northerner in the middle of the South,'' she recalled. ``It was strange. It was also very scary.''
After a short stay in Tampa, Fla., Berry officially began her college education in 1970, when the family moved to Tiffin, Ohio, where they ``nearly doubled the African-American population.''
At Ohio's Heidelberg College, Berry was intrigued by her sociology professor, Chai Sik Chung, who could ``read an article written in Swedish, take notes in Chinese and rewrite the article in English.'' She became best friends with his wife, Soon, a Korean woman who taught Berry Asian cooking and calligraphy.
``I have found myself constantly having friends from many different backgrounds,'' she said. ``I need diversity. I don't just want it, I need it.''
Berry transferred to the College of Wooster, where, in 1978, she finished her bachelor's degree in history. Her senior thesis, which outlined the lives of black women at the turn of the century, is what ``really turned me on to education.''
Her college tour as a professional began in 1980 at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where she filled a number of administrative roles and facilitated workshops on everything from cultural diversity to sexual harassment. While in New York, she commuted to Washington twice monthly, to complete her master's degree in human resource development.
In 1986, she left Skidmore for Prairie View A&M University in Texas, where she held several positions over seven years, her last being assistant director of institutional research.
Berry was the registrar at Upsala College in East Orange, N.J., for a year before coming to VWC, where her husband teaches history. She said the college was thirsty for multicultural activities.
``We've really hit the mark,'' she said. ``The community was ready for it.''
Melissa Pierce Fanney, a senior, said she has noticed a significant change in the amount of multicultural activities since last year and has welcomed it with open arms.
``I think it's important to introduce different events and ideas so students are more prepared for society at large,'' Fanney said. ``Virginia Wesleyan's student and faculty population has traditionally been predominantly white and middle class. This isn't representative of the American population anymore.''
And, although VWC isn't as diverse a university as Old Dominion, coordinating events hasn't been a problem.
``The acceptance has been wonderful - I feel like I'm home,'' said Berry, who prefers small colleges to universities, where red tape can sometimes strangle ideas. VWC is like a family, which has enabled her ``to get things done quickly.''
Since August, Berry has organized several events, including a birthday party for Liliuokalani (the last royalty in Hawaii), a talk by Oliver Perry (chief emeritus of the Nansemond Indian tribe) and a weeklong tribute to Harlem.
Instead of attracting attention to the problems associated with diversity, the events celebrate it, so students can ``learn to draw from the richness of other cultures,'' she said.
She added, ``All of the students who graduate from Virginia Wesleyan College are going to have to live and work in a pluralistic society. It is the responsibility of the institution to prepare the students for life and work in that society.
``The only way to do that is to make sure students have contact with and exposure to as much diversity as possible.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Linda Berry, an expert on multicultural affairs, says, ``I have
dealt with diversity my whole life. It's somethng I live, eat and
breathe.''
by CNB