DETROIT, Feb. 9 – Take a break between classes, grab a bite to eat, and expand your cultural horizons! You can do all three when the Wayne State University College of Nursing holds its annual “Celebration of Diversity” Open House from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, in Room 117 of the Richard Cohn Building, home of the College.

Wayne State students, faculty and staff members are invited to come and enjoy the rich and varied cultures that thrive within the College of Nursing. Guests can sample a variety of savory ethnic cuisine and are encouraged to bring foods and share recipes that reflect their own cultural background. Visitors are also invited to wear clothing representative of their native country and to test their knowledge of other lands in our special Jeopardy! game. Most important, they can interact and network with the widely diverse individuals who make up the College of Nursing.

This year, for the first time, representatives from several state nursing organizations – the National Hispanic Nurses Association-Michigan Chapter, Philippine Nurses Association of Michigan, National American Arab Nurses Association and Indian Nurses Association of Michigan, among others – will be on hand to meet with students and other interested parties. “If we can show our students successful nurses within their own ethnic group who they can use as role models, it can only have a positive effect,” says Hedi Bednarz, College of Nursing clinical instructor and chair of the College’s diversity committee.

Bednarz has become so involved in the subject of diversity that she has decided to shift her primary research interest. “I want to look at successful outcomes for diverse, non-traditional students, because that’s what we’re getting now at the College of Nursing,” she says. “We have to find ways to ensure their success. If you heard the governor’s State of the State address, you heard ‘diversity, diversity, diversity’ and ‘nursing, nursing, nursing,’ so we’re coming along this year at just the right time.”

For more information, contact Hedi Bednarz at (586) 567-1571.