The Indiana University School of Nursing has embraced the importance of diversity for many years, and now a representation of that value will be on display for students and visitors to see.
A 5-by-3-foot mural titled “A Commitment to Diversity” was unveiled Sept. 14 in the IU Bloomington Health Sciences Building, where it will hang next to the Nursing Learning Resource Center.
The mural, painted by IU graduate student Raheem Elmore, features six School of Nursing graduates and “celebrates and commemorates the story of diversity, equity and inclusion among students, faculty and staff at the IU School of Nursing,” Dean Robin Newhouse said.
The six people depicted on the mural are:
- Manuel L. Manalo, the first Asian male graduate, IU Kokomo, 1989.
- Colleen A. Smith, the oldest graduate, IU Kokomo, 1998.
- Lauranne Sams, the first African American faculty member, who joined IUPUI in 1958.
- Ann Mitchem-Davis, the first African American female graduate, IUPUI, 1953.
- Mackenzie Edge-Reetz, representing LGBTQ+ women, 2017 graduate of IU Bloomington.
- Martin Valtierra, the first Hispanic male graduate, IU Northwest, 1987