President Riordan's Diversity Imperative Covered by Student Journalist

President Christine M. Riordan with Mohendra Dinnanauth (far right). Photo published by “The Odyssey.”

Speaking at her inauguration as the 10^th president of Adelphi University on March 11, 2016, Christine M. Riordan, Ph.D., said it was imperative for Adelphi to be a “model for creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive culture.” In an article published by The Odyssey, an online content platform, Monendra Dinnanauth, a freshman at Adelphi, explored Dr. Riordan’s call to action and the impetus behind it.

The article covered Dr. Riordan’s observations gleaned from the 100-Day Listening Tour conducted last summer and fall. The story also mentioned the Diversity at Adelphi website, which lays out the University’s current diversity initiatives in depth.

Dinnanauth wrote that the student body “hopes that Dr. Riordan’s work becomes contagious and spreads to campuses worldwide.”

He quoted fellow student Noor Meer, who said that fears that she would be stigmatized at Adelphi melted away at the beginning of freshman year. “The way I was expected to be treated at Adelphi versus the way I was actually treated were two completely different things,” she said. “I actually felt accepted.”

Read Dinnanauth’s full coverage on The Odyssey.