Diversity at DCRP

DCRP is committed to improving the quality of campus life by valuing the total diversity of the people who live and work among us. As part of this effort, a Diversity Committee was created within DCRP. The goals of the committee are to integrate diversity into the   undergraduate and graduate  curricula, to support and encourage the   recruitment of a diverse faculty  as well as a more diverse student   population. The committee also  strives to support students of color in   their academic, professional,  and personal development, and to provide  a  forum to discuss issues  related to communities of color. Associate Professor, Daniel Rodríguez is the committee chair.

Equal Opportunity at DCRP

The university is particularly focused on fostering greater interaction and collaboration with diverse racial, ethnic, and religious communities.  DCRP reaffirms its policy of equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual  orientation, age, marital status, disability, or status as a disabled  veteran or Vietnam era veteran. This policy applies to all programs and  facilities, including, but not limited to, admissions, educational  programs, and employment.

2011 Diversity Bus Trip:

Visiting Communities to Better Understand Their Challenges

This fall DCRP students packed into a chartered bus and headed out of town in search of diversity.  The purpose of the day-long bus trip was to learn how nearby communities and professionals approach issues of diversity in planning. The trip consisted of stops in historic Stagville, the city of Oxford, and Floyd McKissick’s Soul City.

Located in Durham, Stagville contains the remnants of one of the largest plantations of the pre-Civil War South. The plantations belonged to the Bennehan-Cameron family, whose combined holdings by 1860 totaled almost 30,000 acres of land and approximately 900 slaves.  Stagville offers a view of the past, especially that of its African American community, who greatly contributed to the economic development of North Carolina.  Students visited the 1787 plantation home, an 1850 enslaved dwelling and the Great Barn, one of the largest agricultural buildings built in North Carolina before the Civil War.


This wasn't just a history trip, however. Students also met with the directors of planning and public works for the City of Oxford to discuss some of their current capital improvement projects.  The directors discussed how they review and prioritize projects, as well as their efforts to include minority participation in the design process.

The last stop was in Soul City, a planned community founded on racial equality.  First proposed in 1969 by UNC graduate and civil rights leader Floyd McKissick, the project was funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, (HUD) as one of thirteen model city projects funded through the Urban Growth and New Community Development Act.  It was hoped that Soul City would provide a community for people of all races in the region who had suffered from the decline in agriculture production and out-migration.  Unfortunately, job-creating industries did not come, and housing construction dragged.  Soul City also faced damaging federal audits and political opposition, eventually defaulting in 1980. According to Associate Professor Tom Campanella, “Visiting Soul City gave the students a chance to see first-hand a landmark of the civil rights movement and an important part of American planning history, and to meet some of the people who were involved with the historic venture."