Northwestern's `Bridging the Gap' Receives Diversity Award

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University's Bridging the Gap (BTG) program has received the Diversity Initiative Award from the Association of Fraternity Advisors (AFA).

The Diversity Initiative Award was established in 1994 to recognize an individual, campus or organization that has contributed significantly to the development of multicultural relations or diversity education in a fraternity or sorority community.

Northwestern's BTG was founded in the spring of 2006 to open conversation about race relations in the fraternity and sorority community. It follows the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network (SDCN) example, which was modeled after the Arab-Israeli peace process.

Northwestern was the first campus to bring the SDCN program to campus specifically for fraternity and sorority members. It meets bi-monthly for two-hour discussions led by trained, student moderators.

More than 40 students participated in the program last year before it was opened to the entire University community in the fall of 2007.

The AFA is a multifaceted professional organization providing resources, recognition and support for more than 1,600 fraternity and sorority professionals and volunteers from across the United States and Canada.