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Folks start to walk in and already there are murmurs of the decision by NCLR to move all the Lideres participants to an “overflow” room to watch President Obama speak at the Summit.
A little background: President Obama is scheduled to speak at the NCLR Annual Conference. Both the NCLR Annual Conference and the Lideres Summit run co-currently and hence the Summit participants are always invited to conference events. Last night at the “Notche De Premios,” Lideres participants were asked to give up their tickets to enter the Monday Luncheon event and hence give up to the chance to be in the same room that President Obama would be giving his remarks from.
Participants were told that “seats have sold out to the lunch event, and to make sure youth get to see the President (over view screens), they were told to go to the overflow room only and give up their seats to “others."
Of course, Lideres Summit participants are upset at the idea that they won't be able to attend the lunch and see President Obama, but what is even more striking is that their seats are then going to be given to “others” to watch. I have to assume that these “others” are adults. This action further shows young people that they are not equal in the eyes of NCLR. Upsetting news to hear for a Summit whose motto this year is “Moving Forward, Together.” It sounds to me that NCLR wants to Move Forward, but with their youth dragging behind.
Janet Murguia, President and CEO of NCLR responds to this move stating that:
We’re especially proud of Liders staff, and their work on the Lideres Summit. We are looking for an opportunity for everyone to see the President in the ballroom and I belive the overflow room will be a little more intimate, “full view of the screen.” I will ask President Obama to come to the overflow room.What do you think?
...I ask that you withhold criticism until after the lunch on Monday. We ask everyone to make sacrifices at this summit...“Judge me when this is all over.” I believe we can deliver the President, and we will see what happens.
-Ernesto Dominguez-
at the National Council of La Raza Annual Conference in Washington, DC
Update: Here's a video of the full resposne from NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía:
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