Let's Talk UNLV

Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a Kun V studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Dr. Sammie Scales 0:20
Okay. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back to the first day of the semester. We are in 2025 Welcome to Kun V talk radio. I am your host, Dr Sami scale, who's let's talk well, we have a special guest today that I want to introduce to. We're not really introduced to everyone, but you know, to just bring back to every cause. I think everyone here on campus. Our special guest is Imani Patterson, yes.

Imani Patterson 0:43
Hey, what's up you? And I'll be Thank you for having me back. Dr Samuels, absolutely.

Dr. Sammie Scales 0:47
And you have a new title. Now, tell everyone your new title. Yes,

Imani Patterson 0:50
I am the Senior Assistant Director for Student Diversity Programs. I'm excited.

Dr. Sammie Scales 0:56
Oh, I'm excited for you as well. And everyone knows that when they come to one of your programs, it's gonna be lit. So make sure we come to those programs. So as I start all of my show, all of the shows here, and even though we've talked about this before, but tell us your audience story again, on how you ended up here at UNLV.

Imani Patterson 1:10
Yeah, definitely. I am from Las Vegas, Nevada, born in Reno, but raised in Vegas. So when people like, where are you from? I'm from Vegas. Y'all, I had the opportunity to get my bachelor's and my master's here I got my bachelor's in kinesiology, shout out to the Integrated Health Sciences, and then I got my master's in higher education, shout out to the College of Education. And from there, I catapulted my career in higher ed as the program coordinator for fraternity toward you, and now I'm here planning all the identity specific programming on campus with team, and we are loving Excellent,

Dr. Sammie Scales 1:46
excellent. So you had something to do with campus sorority and fraternity life. So are you a part of sorority or any? Yes, I

Imani Patterson 1:53
am a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. We are still in January. So Happy belated Founders Day to all my soul wars,

Dr. Sammie Scales 2:02
absolutely. Founders days of Delta. Okay, let's dive into this. What are the primary goals we want to talk about? Of course, Black History Month is getting ready to come up, and there's tons of things that you have set in place. And I think the the advertisement for that, the flyers, everything else has started to go out, and then there's a couple of meet and greets planned. So could you tell us about those? What are those about? So

Imani Patterson 2:22
yes, definitely, we have a few things happening during Welcome weeks. And welcome weeks is just an initiative of events and programming programs on campus for the first three weeks of each semester. So this semester, instead of having our welcome back student experiences, we're having our meetings. And the primary goal for those meet and greets is just to connect each group with the faculty representative of that group, the students, alumni and staff on campus, just so people can build and expand their net. You know, some people do not have faculty mentors yet, and if you're interested, come to the meet and greets and get to know the faculty that's on campus that represent, that's representative of each group that we're hosting, absolutely.

Dr. Sammie Scales 3:05
So I know, I know what these meet and greets that you're doing and all the events that you're doing, it's a big effort. It's not as a tough haul. So who helps you with these programs? Do you have anyone in your department that help these

Imani Patterson 3:19
programs? Yeah, definitely. You know, I have the pleasure of teaching this semester, so I can't plan these programs by myself. I actually have two program coordinators helping me plan these meet and greets, from everything catering wise to the activity, because, you know, it's going to be a facilitated networking mixer, so people can actually get out and enjoy, I mean, get out and engage with one another. So I have my program coordinator, Miriam Dr, Miriam rad handling all the catering needs and hosting the appy may meet and greet, along with the LGBT meet and greet. And then I have my lovely coordinator, Isabelle Herrera Pedro. She will be leading the efforts for our Latinx and our native meet and greet, which will be also responsible for creating the actual activity. Well,

Dr. Sammie Scales 4:06
okay, and you said something that I'm gonna kind of backtrack a little bit. You said you're teaching this semester. What are you teaching? And how did you get into teaching? And do you see the students in your class that you see walking around in the SU,

Imani Patterson 4:16
yeah, definitely I am familiar with a few faces. Today was my first day I teach leadership in ethics, 201, which is the introduction of leadership within the ed psych, leadership in higher ed program within college of education. And it's great. I'm having a great time. This is my first time teaching in person. In the past, I've taught web based so it's refreshing. Wow. It's definitely

Dr. Sammie Scales 4:39
going to be an experience, you know, coming from out from my old institution over at San Diego State I taught also I was in classroom, so it was a wonderful experience. And I definitely miss being in classroom students so Well,

Imani Patterson 4:50
let's hope that's for you, in the cards and UNLV, like, really,

Dr. Sammie Scales 4:55
I know. So how does STP ensure inclusive? Be during meet and greets, events for African American and Pan African

Imani Patterson 5:03
Well, definitely, you know, when it comes to all of our meet and greets, everyone's welcome, all of them, everyone is welcome. All people are welcome to our event. So definitely, we just make sure we're marketing to everyone, and everyone knows of all dates so they can attend any dates to seek collaboration and opportunities for partnerships with the events and programs moving forward. So yeah, definitely, when it comes to our African American students and Pan African students specifically, we just make sure they know about it and from their RSVP, essentially, we aim to have all of our student leaders there and all our key players when it comes to faculty, staff confirmed for that. So when just regular students who may not be involved yet, they're actually getting to know the who's who campus.

Dr. Sammie Scales 5:48
Okay, excellent. And that was going to be one of my, I think, kind of sort of touched on it. That was going to be my next question is, just because one of the meet and greets is called Abby may or LGBT or Latinx, does that mean any student can attend those events?

Imani Patterson 6:02
Yeah, any student, any student can attend any of our events, especially for Black History Month. You know, everyone's invited to the cookout. So you know when it comes to our meet and greet, specifically, if you want to just collaborate and get to know people from diverse backgrounds come through. We're gonna have refreshments so you can come hungry, and then, you know, I'm gonna be at all the meet and greets, and I identify as a black woman. That's not gonna stop me from being an ally at the LGBT or ally at the Latin x. So, you know, it's all about, you know, building allyship with multiple groups on campus and just, you know, letting them know who you are and getting to know who they are. It's just networking. Yeah,

Dr. Sammie Scales 6:47
that's what I'm gonna say. It sounds like an excellent networking opportunity, but also it sounds like a place where you can make connections, meet new friends, and develop that sense of belonging here on campus. Yeah,

Imani Patterson 6:57
it's important to know that, you know, UNLV is a minority serving institution, and although we are demographically diverse, you know, it's also great to understand that we are a university and there are policies and just, you know, foundational barriers that diverse students do face. So this is just an opportunity for them to, you know, meet those faculty and staff that they request that reflect them you know, and just to have you know, a person to go to throughout their journey, that can they see as a mentor? Yeah,

Dr. Sammie Scales 7:32
excellent, excellent. How do SDP collaborate with Latino student organization to plan and execute them? I guess that same question is for all of the organizations. So how do SDP collaborate with those? So

Imani Patterson 7:44
we definitely do have a newsletter, and our newsletter, all of our groups are subscribed to it. So we each week, we say what's happening that week in that newsletter, and we just confirm with the organization specifically their attendance, just by personally inviting them to the event. So pretty much, this is a call in to every one of these diasporas that we're representing. You know, for the next two weeks, it's a call in so everyone, we're telling everyone call if you want to meet people of Latinx descent, if you want to meet people from the abbey made community, which is Asian, Pacific, Islander, Middle Eastern. If you want to meet people part of the LGBT community, this is your opportunity to just show up and get to know folks. Excellent, excellent.

Dr. Sammie Scales 8:33
So and sister was talking about our Latin student. How do I create a sense of community during the morning? Yes,

Imani Patterson 8:39
definitely. You know, we have a welcoming atmosphere. Our new student diversity programs. Lounge is on the second floor, and Su 228, so all of our meet and greets will be located there. Another thing to also, you know, bring up, is that each of them will have refreshments. So to break bread is the easy way to break the ice. But we will also have a facilitated networking opportunity, where you know the first person who gets through the networking opportunity, they will actually receive a giveaway. So we will provide that those questions to break the ice, where people can actually engage and meet new people while they're there. Because I know it's sometimes intimidating to meet new people, but we'll help you through that. And then our team is actually, you know, ready to connect those who are not familiar with those who are familiar with us. So, you know, we're going to be facilitating that networking opportunity to, you know, make everyone feel comfortable. That's great.

Dr. Sammie Scales 9:35
It sounds like the coordinators are well versed. And icebreakers number one to get everyone involved in what's going on. And I want to go back to something that you said. You said that now your events are going to be in two to eight, so you're not on the very first level anymore. When in that huge lounge at the

Imani Patterson 9:49
bottom, yes, yes. We're currently in the we're currently on the second floor, right behind, oh, it so we have a little, we have a little cozy space that used to be. Old student diversity programs that used to be just the old student lounge on the second floor. So we're occupying that space. Definitely come through anytime from Monday to Friday. We're open. Our hours are on the door, and you can study. You can play games. I know the chess club loves being an SD lounge. We even have opportunities for you to do arts crafts, just so you can, you know, take a break from studying, but then the space can be quiet, and if you have headphones, you could use a space as a study space as well. So it's very versatile. That's excellent. So is it open Monday through Friday? When is it open? Yeah, it's open Monday through Friday, from 10 to seven, or Monday through Thursday. And then on Friday, we close at five, at

Dr. Sammie Scales 10:42
five. Okay, sounds good. Let me ask you this, what role do faculty and staff play, according and participating in nights for the underrepresented here on campus? Because I think it's definitely important that students see some of the faculty, or even the professors like yourself, in a capacity other than standing behind a lecture and lecturing to them or something to that effect? Yeah,

Imani Patterson 11:00
definitely, it's an opportunity just for mentorship. And you know, it doesn't have to necessarily be a formal mentorship where you meet with someone weekly. You know, it's just more so building relationships with those who are on campus that can help you in a time that of need, right? So it's about being resourceful, and the faculty and staff that show up to our meet and greets are more so showing up as a resource. So I mean, they're going to be coming from various departments, various units on campus. So I mean, you might meet someone from the Writing Center. That's a resource. You might meet someone from the college that you are majoring that you're studying in, that's a resource. So, you know, it's always great to have a reference, someone that could speak to your character, but it's always great to also have someone to ask questions that you're comfortable asking. So pretty much, the faculty and staff will be that resource that show up that, you know, they're here dedicated, you know, they we all work at UNLV, and we're dedicated to cultivating global leaders here at UNLV. So again, the faculty and staff are there to just be a resource support, excellent, excellent.

Dr. Sammie Scales 12:11
So I know there are tons of different student organizations or RSOs here on campus. You have alpha Fauci fraternity Incorporated. You have the deltas here on campus, the AAS and some of the other fraternities and sororities as well. What role do they play in these meet and greet nights? Do you reach out to them saying, hey, you know, keep bringing your organization to this, to this. How does that work? Yeah, we

Imani Patterson 12:31
have a spreadsheet of over 100 multicultural and diversity registered student organizations, and we invite all of Oh, wow, yeah, we invite all of them so who could show up is, can show up if schedules permit, you know, because we do understand people have jobs, and we do understand that people, you know, have class. But we speak to all the presidents, and we tell them to share it with their memberships. And then their memberships show up, as far as like presidents specifically, we tell them, if they cannot be there, to send a proxy in their place, so people can get connected, follow these different organizations on social media and actually see a face to the org at these events. But other than that, you know, we invite everybody. Wow,

Dr. Sammie Scales 13:16
that's excellent. So anyone can come to these events. Now, when it comes to our Native American students here on the campus at UNLV, what do you do to be culturally sensitive and respectful to our Native American Campus?

Imani Patterson 13:28
Well, definitely, you know, this is an opportunity for our Native students and faculty to connect. I mean, they're a tight knit community, so this is more so an opportunity for us to see if any new students who join UNLV, who are native, are part of the native and indigenous communities, for them to come through and get to know the organizations and the tighten the community that we do have here. It is always important that we do our land acknowledgement and all of our events, just so we can acknowledge that our land is on the land that used to be of Paiute people. So we do want to make sure that we are centering our, you know, our events around awareness and educating folks about, you know, where UNLV stands when it comes to different communities and inclusiveness. And we try to have those practices in our program.

Dr. Sammie Scales 14:21
That's good. These programs definitely sound like they're always successful. But what are some of the challenges, if any, that you face while doing these programs? And I know you've been doing this quite some time. Well, you

Imani Patterson 14:31
know, when it comes to programming and just planning events, there's always going to be a challenge. So you have to go in the you have to go into planning knowing that there will be an issue. I mean, you can plan, plan, plan, but something always arises, so it's more so. How do you think on your feet? Right? And then, when you're planning so many programs, if you have as much experience as I you know certain things to look out for, for all programs, I guess, for. This one specifically, you know, the space is secure, the time is there. We have the activities and we have the food. So for this one specifically, is getting there, so we're going to be marketing. So marketing is more so the challenge when it comes to all of our programs, because you want to get as many people in the know of your program as possible. So we are hitting all avenues when it comes to marketing. That's the master calendar Involvement Center, printed flyers, social media and email. So we're trying to get everybody so we will be out there on january 29 at the Involvement Fair, you know, passing out flyers and getting people to know, you know, this is what we got going on, um, for welcome weeks. So we hit all avenues. When it comes to marketing, is not just one. We have to hit all of them because we don't know who reads what. Some people do not check their email, true, but they check their Instagram, yeah. So they might find out via Instagram. Some people actually see events, and they might catch us on Involvement Center. They might catch us on the master calendar, so we have to put it everywhere. So the challenge is marketing, and we do have a formula. So you know, then the day of the event, you see who shows up. So

Dr. Sammie Scales 16:20
you do have a social media. You have Instagram, are you on Tiktok, or anything like that

Imani Patterson 16:24
at all? We are not on Tiktok. We're trying to, you know, solidify our following on Instagram before we tap into another social media. But we do post reels. It's fun on tik it's fun on Instagram. So definitely, if you don't follow us on Instagram at UNLV, SDP on Instagram.

Dr. Sammie Scales 16:44
Okay, now, with that being said, you know how you do your marketing? How do you measure SAS for your program?

Imani Patterson 16:51
I mean, that's a loaded question, I know, for these programs, specifically, we just want to make sure that we're connecting people with the proper we just want to connect, right? So we don't have a necessarily, we don't necessarily have a number on our meet and greets, like as far as attendees, just because this is our second year, and this is a new flow and a new space. So we are still in the pilot stages of the of this event, but definitely at the bare minimum, we're just trying to connect people with resources, people who can help them navigate their journey at UNLV, however, through success, a great way that we measure is just feedback. So based on who attends and them completing our feedback, y'all we need y'all to complete the feedback so we can always improve. I know you do not want to complete a survey, but we need you to complete the survey because we want to improve, right? So we asked those who attended to to, you know, give us some feedback, suggestions of what they would like to see next year. And then also they're not able to attend, we still send that feedback form out to say, hey, this time didn't work for me. And then if we get enough of that, we're able to change the event to work for the majority, for the time, for the majority of the people who were serving so definitely, feedback is how we measure success. If people are saying, I love this event, it's successful, and somebody's like, you need to change, x, y, z. And majority of the people say, hey, you need to change. Oh, no, no, no, we have some things to work on.

Dr. Sammie Scales 18:27
Okay. Sounds good. Sounds good. So that appy made meet and greet is january 30, from starting at 12 o'clock. Yes. Elva in su 228, the black for the black students, meet and greet january 30 at 5pm to eight. LGBTQ meet and greet is February 3 at noon two to eight as well. And Latinx is February 3 at 5pm and Native American is February 4 at 5pm in that same location. So let's now, let's talk about some of these events that's on the black history month calendar, and that is a loaded calendar, so I'm sure that you started working had to be last in order to get this amount of programs on here. So I definitely advise everyone to get a copy of this flyer for Black History Month and attend as many of these programs as you possibly can. So let's talk about some of these events that's scheduled here on the calendar. First thing that you have, we have, it's February 5, boots on the ground line dance class. Could you talk about that a little bit?

Imani Patterson 19:23
Yes, boots on the ground. So, yeah, definitely. Boots on the ground will be a line dance class. This is something that has been like, highly requested. Boots on the ground is a specific line dance. However, we're going to be teaching all the popular line dances that you know you see all over campus at these large scale events. You do not have to be expert if you're learning come through. If you're a professional. I have been volunteered by Dr Sammy to be the instructor. Mind you. I do not mind because one of the favorite I love, line dancing. Fun, and that's

Dr. Sammie Scales 20:00
why I asked you to be in charge of it, because I will be with the students trying to learn it. Yes,

Imani Patterson 20:05
yeah, I definitely love line dancing. So February 5, five to seven, we are going to be located in howelltown, which is in South complex, and that is our black African American community and housing. And they will be food provided absolutely

Dr. Sammie Scales 20:20
and just because it's in high town, it's for all the students, so all students can hear our voice right now, you're definitely invited. Let's talk about February 13, where we have real talk connecting across the African diaspora.

Imani Patterson 20:32
So yeah, that is going to be an inter group dialog facilitated by Dr Dave Johnson, which is faculty in the African American and African Diaspora Studies on campus, and we are inviting everyone to, you know, talk about, you know, what means? What does it mean to be black? What does it mean to be part of the African diaspora? How Connect? How could foster solidarity? You know, being black is not a monolith, and we understand that. You know, it's compassing of many various communities from, I mean, Africa, America, um, South America, the Caribbean. It's, you know, we're everywhere, yeah, you know, yeah, I'm definitely

Dr. Sammie Scales 21:12
looking forward to that one. Definitely, there's a story when it involves me. I'm a black man, I'm sure a lot, but I have a specific story that I want to share also when it comes to that. So I'm definitely going to get that event. I'm trying to make absolutely every event listed on it. And

Imani Patterson 21:27
one more thing about that event, if you follow Keith Lee, we're going to have Calabash African restaurant as the catering for that event. So definitely come hungry, because you're going to see why Lee, the famous food credit, yeah, absolutely. He was

Dr. Sammie Scales 21:41
a resident here in Las Vegas for a while, correct? Yes, yes, and he was relocated to where Texas. Okay, sounds good. So, February 20, we have the West Side experience. Can you tell us what that is about? Yes,

Imani Patterson 21:53
the West Side experience has expanded in past. It was just the historic west side bus tour, which our tour guide is the lovely clay T white special election. But we went ahead and expanded it, um, so we could come back, ate lunch and learn about just, you know, um, the history of black people in Las Vegas, because history is very rich. A lot of people not know about um. A lot of people do not even west side. So definitely take advantage. Is a two part event. I mean, the bus tour is 50 slots come free, and clay T is a historian. Yes,

Dr. Sammie Scales 22:28
she's in a movie here, something concerning the moon's room.

Imani Patterson 22:32
Yes, she's in PBS renowned, right? So definitely, that is going to be an immersive experience. There's going to be stops where you can get off the bus and see all the different sites of the west side, and you're like, Wow. You know there is community here, there is black history here. And then also come back and enjoy a lunch and learn with Dr Tyler Perry from the African American and Afro Diaspora Studies.

Dr. Sammie Scales 22:57
I am definitely looking forward to this West Side experience. Because I remember last year when I did this, I was fortunate enough to take this, what do go on the west side bus tour, and I got to see the house where Sammy Davis, Jr, live, when he Well, not live, but stay when he came to Las Vegas, because black people couldn't stay in hotels. So he stayed in nuclear house. So we got to get off the bus and go inside, and I actually got to take pictures in the room where Sammy Dave have slept. So I mean, it was a, it was a an experience by itself, just being there. So I absolutely loved it. And then there's other things up there in the west side as well that I was introduced to. So I absolutely loved and I definitely think it's an event that, if you can attend, definitely get on that list, because it's only 50 slots. February 6, we have Black History Month kickoff Jersey party. And tell us about that, because I'm a new body, yeah,

Imani Patterson 23:47
if you don't have a jersey, I mean, you know, you could wear your favorite shirt, right? So we're asking everyone to come to the party wearing their favorite jersey, or shirt that is representing their hometown or their favorite is a jersey party. That's going to be a live DJ doing regional sets. He's going to have a Midwest set, a West Coast set, a down south set, East Coast setting. We're going to have Afrobeats set. There's going to be soul food, and we will have vegan options by the edible bunch. So definitely enjoy that. It will be an SU 208 for nine. There will be a fun custom photo booth where you could take away printed pictures and giveaways a resource fair. I mean, this event's for everyone. We will have the Department of Welfare as a resource table during this event to help you get snap it. And if you don't know what SNAP benefits is, it's food stamps. Okay, if you're a student, qualify Absolutely.

Dr. Sammie Scales 24:40
You know, I remember being at San Diego stadium we had, we brought them actually on campus, and gave them an office on campus. And so, yes, that would be wonderful. Students definitely came by, and they was like, Oh, I get my own money and use their money. So, yeah, it was great. It's great for them. So february 14 is a Douglas day, which is Frederick Douglass day. Can you tell us about? With

Imani Patterson 25:00
that. Yeah. So this is actually spearheaded by the UNLV libraries. It'll be and then there it'll be in their gold filled room, which I believe is on the third floor of the library, if not the third, the second. And pretty much, you know, Frederick Douglass is known for writing in curse of all his all everything he wrote. Yeah. So the US Library of Congress, they need help transcribing. So we help transcribe it for the day. And it's a whole hybrid experience. You're connected with different universities who are doing the same. Get to read his letters and get the and get the tea, because it's tea in there. And then also, you get to see who wins the Kate um competition last year. UNLV won that gate competition. You know, we coming for year two. So definitely is a great event, um, held by the library, and we would love to see you there. Excellent.

Dr. Sammie Scales 25:53
Um, there's so many things listed here on this calendar, but, uh, could you talk to us about what's happening on February 18, the thriving, authentic Career Networking. Yeah. So

Imani Patterson 26:02
thriving authentically is our program series with career services. We have a thriving authentic every month, Representative representative of all the students we serve. But this month, being that is Black History Month, this is for black African American students. And as a career networking event, there's going to be a panel of Black Alumni and professionals from various industries letting us know how they navigated their career, being unapologetic black, right? And then giving you tips and tricks on how to succeed in your job search. And you know, it's never too early to do some career exploration. You may think you know what these careers are about, but you need to speak with people who actually are living and breathing careers. And after that, there will be a employer networking mixer, where you get to meet different organizations who are di dei focused. So yeah, definitely get connected. And again, let's get you in the doors of success after graduating. Absolutely

Dr. Sammie Scales 27:00
any last minute comments you would like to make about Black History Month or about them Greek you

Imani Patterson 27:05
know, it's just an opportunity for you to just get connected with various people. I have met so many people at UNLV throughout the years, and I want you to meet them as well, because there's some phenomenal people here. Yeah,

Dr. Sammie Scales 27:18
the majority of the people, even though I've been here now a little over a year, January 8, with my first year anniversary, some of the people that I've met here on campus was at, were at the Greece and that's how I got to them so and I'm still connected them. One of the people, like Mario Rodriguez, I met him at a meeting, and he's been asked him and I always chatting together. So it's been asked. So we want to thank you so very much for coming by and chatting with us and letting us know what's going on with the meet and Greece and greets and with black history. Money Patterson, assistant director, Senior Assistant Director over in SDP, thank you so very much, and we'll be happy to have you back anytime. All right,

Imani Patterson 27:50
hopefully we see you at these events. Have a good one. Thank you

Dr. Renee Watson 27:57
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