“NCCC is committed to creating a diverse environment for all of the valued stakeholders within our institutional community. We endeavor to create an atmosphere where people are emboldened to stand up and speak up because their voices will not only heard but respected and responded to.”
– Dr. William J. Murabito, President

Cultivating Diversity in the Classroom and the Workplace

Are you a student who is interested in applying to the SUNY Student Assembly and its EDI task force?
Inclusion Initiatives
The NCCC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee was created in September 2016. It serves as an initiative to actively engage the whole college community in recognizing the importance of diversity for assuring the success of all members of our college community, including students, staff, faculty, and administration, in an ever-increasingly global environment.
The 2020-2021 committee members consist of Jonathan Bellomo, Will Brinson, Catherine Brown, Suzanne Buffamanti, Allyson Knuutila-Clark (student), Erika Grande, Chris Herbeck, Angela Jackson, Maurice Jackson (student), Kareen Klettke, Karen Kwandrans, Pamela Lange, Monica Lopoyda, Arianna Morales (student), Julia Pitman, Harsh Sharma, John Strong, Rhonda Bivins-Talley, Gail Tylec, Heather Trumble.
Meeting Schedule: 1/14, 2/11, 3/11, 4/8 & 5/6 at 2pm
Are you interested in contributing to the NCCC EDI Committee?
Contact John D Strong
Diversity Dialogues
MLK Day of Service
January 2021
Observed each year on the third Monday in January as “a day on, not a day off,” MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. AmeriCorps has been charged with leading this effort for the past quarter-century.
AmeriCorps is collaborating with the Presidential Inaugural Committee on the MLK National Day of Service.
Together we encourage you to engage in volunteer service in honor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. If you are hosting a service project, please register it on the Presidential Inaugural website. Make a commitment to serve in your community on MLK Day and throughout 2021.
Course List
Course | Attribute | Credits | Semester | Faculty |
---|---|---|---|---|
COM 210: Intercultural Communication | 3 | Spring 2021 | Surdyke | |
HIS 210: Native American History | OW / AH | 3 | Fall 2021 or Spring 2022 | Fisher |
HIS 255: Holocausts: From Rome to Rwanda | SS | 3 | Spring 2021 | Clarcq |
HON 103: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion | 1 | Spring 2021 | Lange | |
HUS/EDU 120 Disabilities: Birth Through Adolescence | 3 | Spring 2021 | Oberjosh/Hamilton | |
HUS/EDU 210 Anti-Bias in Early Childhood Education | 3 | Spring 2021 | Gress | |
HUS 122 Disabilities & Aging | OER | 3 | Spring 2021 | Oberjosh |
HUS 217 Diversity in Chemical Dependency Counseling | OER | 3 | Spring 2021 | Oberjosh |
LIT 222: Contemporary World Literature | H | 3 | Spring 2021 | Pietrzykowski |
LIT 231: African American Literature | H | 3 | Fall 2021 | Varies |
LIT 233: Native American Literature | H | 3 | Spring 2021 | Sharma |
MUS 130: Urban Music: BeBop to Hip-Hop | AR | 3 | Fall 2021 as CAP course in Lockport HS | |
SOC 203: Social Problems (spring ’21 by A. Pollard) | SS | 3 | Spring 2021 | Pollard |
SOC 260: Sociology of the Family | SS | 3 | Spring 2021 | Pollard |
SOC 270: Community Studies | SS | 3 | Spring 2021 | Johnson |
SSC 111: Gender, Sexuality and Culture | Spring 2021 | Oberjosh | ||
THA 110: Black Drama and Film | AR / H | 3 | Fall 2021 | Buffamanti |

Spotlight
Collin Lacki ‘21
Music major at NCCC
“…the shift to online is difficult with a lot of platforms not being accessible.” However, Collin does note that NCCC is providing him with the support he needs to overcome these challenges. Lacki is a student advocate on our NCCC campus. He was elected to the NCCC Student Government Association, serves as secretary/treasurer for the New York State Association of Blind Students and serves on the newly formed SUNY Student Voices Action Committee, which is working towards accessibility across New York state. Listen to his cares and concerns, along with the rest of his WBFO interview. We applaud his passionate advocacy.
Highlights
- Anti-Racist Training was provided for all full-time faculty facilitated by the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee trainers during this year’s All Faculty Meeting.
- New Faculty Orientation presentations provided for new Faculty partners to acquaint them with our campus community.
- Students and staff attended the UB Speaker Series featuring speaker, Angela Davis, an American political activist, Academic, and former Black Panther.
- NCCC had the honor of hosting Keith Boykin, as a guest speaker for a workshop on the importance of inclusiveness in higher education, the workplace, and society.
- National Coming Out Day was celebrated with students in the Learning Commons in collaboration with the Office of Student Life.
- The Committee organized a series of ‘Brown Bag Lunches’ with employees to discuss topics such as “Diversity in the Workplace,” “Are Diverse companies really more innovative?” “How to Deconstruct Racism, One Headline at a Time” and “Color Blind or Color Brave”.
- A Diversity Panel Discussion took place during NCCC’s Professional Development Days to address EDI on the NCCC campus.

Keith Boykin, author, actor and a contributor on CNN, speaks at NCCC on September 26, 2019.

John Strong
Chief Diversity and Equity Officer
Phone: 716-614-5900
Email: jstrong@niagaracc.suny.edu
Location: H-162