Pharmacy Multicultural Programs to celebrate 25 years

The Purdue College of Pharmacy is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Multicultural Programs. The college will host a Multicultural Programs celebration, "Honoring the Legacy and Accomplishments: Past to Present," on April 28-29.

A meet-and-greet reception will be held 3:30-5 p.m. April 28 at the Black Cultural Center. This event is open to the Purdue community including students, faculty and staff. The Purdue community and Pharmacy alumni will have the opportunity to visit with special guests Johnnie L. Early II (MS 1976, PhD 1979) and Dolores C. Shockley (MS 1953, PhD 1955).

Events on April 29 will begin at the Four Points by Sheraton in West Lafayette with breakfast and roundtable discussions with Pharmacy students and alumni followed by a luncheon featuring keynote speaker Early and a special recognition of Shockley. Participation on Saturday is by invitation only.

Early is the dean of the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Toledo. He has been recognized as one of the 50 most influential pharmacists in America.

Early started the Purdue chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association, which extends membership to all undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in pharmacy programs with its main objectives to provide mechanisms by which minority pharmacy students may participate in shaping their professional curricula; to develop within minority communities a positive image of black, Latino, and other minority health professionals; and to inform pharmacy students of opportunities and obligations as future health care professionals. Early is a 1993 recipient of the Purdue Pharmacy Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Shockley became the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate from the Purdue College of Pharmacy. She also was the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate in pharmacology in the United States. She is the retired head of Pharmacology at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She once commented that she never set out to be a first, but that she always liked science. Shockley received a Purdue Pharmacy Distinguished Alumna Award in 2009.

Multicultural Programs has a rich heritage of building a strong community over the years through student participation, tutoring support, faculty employment opportunities, council membership, donor support, and corporate sponsorship. These elements continue to contribute to the commitment to increase diversity from traditionally underrepresented populations in the College of Pharmacy.

“As we reflect on the past, we look to the future -- the students,” says Aneasha Moore (PharmD 2002), chair of the Multicultural Programs Celebration Committee, member of the Purdue College of Pharmacy Minority Advocacy Council, and former student participant of MCP. “Students are the core of multicultural programs and their dedication to personal, academic, and professional development continues to drive success.”

For more information regarding events for the Purdue College of Pharmacy’s 25th anniversary of Multicultural Programs, contact Dana Neary, manager of alumni relations and special events, at nearyd@purdue.edu, or Linnette White, director of Multicultural Programs, at lcwhite@purdue.edu.