U-Md. to create center to focus on public health initiatives

The University of Maryland on Wednesday plans to announce the creation of a center to focus on public health initiatives in the disparate locales of Prince George's County and the African nation of Sierra Leone, two places close to the heart of the alumnus who is donating some of the funds.

U-Md. alumnus Madieu Williams, a professional football player with the Minnesota Vikings, was born in Sierra Leone and raised in Prince George's County. He graduated from the school of public health in 2003 with a degree in family science and played for the Terps football team before joining the NFL.

His undisclosed gift, reportedly the largest by an African American alumnus of U-Md., will help fund the creation of a Madieu Williams Center for Global Health Initiatives. The center will be a partnership among the Madieu Williams Foundation, the university, the county and the Embassy of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone Ambassador H.E Bockari Stevens is scheduled to attend an 11 a.m. ceremony at the College Park campus.

The announcement comes amid new controversy about the school's commitment to diversity. Students are planning an emergency meeting tonight over rumored changes to U-Md.'s Office of Equity and Diversity.

For budgetary reasons, the position of assistant provost of equity and diversity will be reduced from full-time to part-time at the end of June, according to Nariman Farvardin, provost of U-Md.

The Diamondback student newspaper reported Wednesday that Assistant Provost Cordell Black was rumored to be losing his job and that the diversity office might be eliminated. Farvardin confirmed that Black was vacating the position but said he would be replaced, and that the diversity office and its work would endure.

"The Office of Diversity and Equity will not be changed at all," he said. "The students are hearing rumors that are unfounded and untrue."

A Facebook page devoted to the student gathering notes that black student enrollment dipped 28 percent in this year's freshman class, despite ongoing efforts by the university to diversify the student population. Diversity officials have theorized that the economic downturn might have hampered those efforts.

University officials say the school's diversity efforts are being restructured, not cut back. A draft diversity plan calls for the university to appoint a chief diversity officer who reports directly to the president and to create a new Office of University Diversity, to coordinate diversity efforts. The plan also calls for "measurable goals" to hold individual departments accountable for diversity.