But these are often isolated enterprises. The long-range plan our committee presents, therefore, will be a strategy focused on our central themes and designed to draw on the disparate experience of our members. And as we develop productive understandings and strategies, we will shape an American Folklore Society that can respond more effectively to changes and pressures inside and outside the discipline of folklore. We're already doing it, and this letter is one of the means. A diverse organization is one that serves a broad constituency without diluting its mission.
True diversity is less about quotas and more about power-sharing.
Achieving meaningful diversity means reconceiving each and every one of ourselves as a part of a diverse whole that is already here. Making a commitment to serving the complexity and richness of that diverse whole can only result in greater personal development, professional growth and Societal progress. We acknowledge that achieving diversity is critical to adapting to our changing world and work environments, preparing for multiple career paths, and fully engaging communities. We can point to many successful undertakings and promising projects, such as the travel stipend programs of the Minority and International Task Forces, the minority orientation program that will open the 1998 Annual Meeting, the diversity of articles and authors in the Journal of American Folklore , and the Society's recent ready adoption of a non-discrimination clause. Yet AFS as a whole has not seemed to embrace this philosophy fully.