By Bryant Chappell
“I just want to throw you in a room together and let the differences bring you together, not push you away.”
These are the words of Jan Yopp, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who has also been there for 35 years. Yopp emphasizes the importance of diversity. “We have to accept that no two people are alike. In order to have a functional, peaceful, successful society, we have to drop our stereotypes and biases,” she said.
Yopp sees her own diversity reflected in her Swedish background, her political views and her Episcopalian religious views. Yopp, 65, clearly appreciates the differences of those around her, such as the way she grew up compared to the way many others today grow up.
“I grew up in Florida with my mom, dad, two brothers, and my sister. It’s not like today where you have many blended families, which I think makes it more interesting,” she said.
Yopp had the privilege of being good friends with someone who also appreciated diversity: Chuck Stone.
Stone was a prominent journalist throughout the Civil Rights movement and knew leaders such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. He was the editor of several African-American newspapers and was the first president of the National Association of Black Journalists. Yopp recalls that Stone showed his interest in diversity by wearing a pin in the shape of the United States that was a rainbow of various skin tones.
“Chuck had a wonderful sense of humor. He could poke fun at our various stereotypes and get away with it,” Yopp said. “He considered himself to be diverse because his mother was Creole and his father was African-American.” Because of this, Stone thought of himself as “orange.”
Yopp and Stone worked together from 1992 to 1995 in the Rainbow Institute. During this 3-week summer program, 15 diverse students from around the country explored the field of journalism.
When Chuck Stone retired, Yopp wanted to honor Stone for his legacy. To do this, she helped create the Chuck Stone Program for Diversity in Education and Media with the help of Monica Hill, the director of the Scholastic Media Association, and professors Napoleon and Queenie Byars. This program honors Stone by promoting journalism and celebrating diversity.
“The Rainbow Institute was created to promote racial and ethnic diversity in the newsroom, while the Chuck Stone Program promotes diversity through these but also through religious views, political views, and even socio-economic statuses,” Yopp added.
2014 marked the eighth year of the Chuck Stone Program, which is still going strong. Yopp continues to assist with the program and hopes that this is a learning experience for the twelve students attending.
“You all may not become journalists, but it will have an effect on your lives. Having you all changes our lives. It’s a lot of fun,” she said.