UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 4, Page D-1
September 22, 1994
Diversity
Araya Debessay appointed commission chairperson for 1994-95

     Araya Debessay, chairperson of the University of Delaware
Commission to Promote Racial and Cultural Diversity and professor of
accounting, is approaching his new position with enthusiasm.
     A member of the commission for the past two years, Debessay said
he wants to make the group an active force at the University, one that
supports minority students, staff and faculty and promotes a truly
hospitable environment, reflecting the rich diversity of the campus.
     When he first came to Newark in 1978, there were few minority
faculty members at the University.
     "There have been encouraging strides toward a more diverse campus
since I first arrived, and we have come a long way. But, there is
still a way to go," he said.
     While increasing the number of minority students and staff is a
high priority, he said, a supportative campus environment is equally
important.
     Debessay said that he intends to communicate with other schools
that have been successful in promoting racial and cultural diversity
to learn of their programs and methods.
     He said he plans to encourage the formation of a caucus of
African-American faculty and professionals and other groups, and to
develop a mentoring program to acclimate new staff to the University.
     These are in addition to other initiatives of the commission that
promote diversity and protect minority groups on campus, he said.
     A native of Eritrea, Africa's newest nation on the Red Sea coast,
Debessay was educated at Haile Selassie I University in Ethiopia,
received his master's degree and doctorate from Syracuse University
and then began teaching at the University.
     "It was the right decision, and one I never regretted.
     I have received support and encouragement during my years at
Delaware," he said.
     A certified public accountant, a certified management accountant
and a certified internal auditor, Debessay has served as president of
the American Accounting Association, Mid-Atlantic Region, and as a
director of the Delaware chapter of the Institute of Management
Accountants. The author of two books, he has published extensively in
his field.
     Debessay has won several teaching awards as well. At Delaware, he
has received the excellence-in-teaching award and twice won the
outstanding teaching award in the College of Business and Economics.
In 1991, he received the Innovation in Business Education Award from
the Middle Atlantic Association of Colleges of Business
Administration.
     Both Debessay and his wife, Semret, who works for the DuPont Co.,
have supported their homeland in its struggle for independence from
Ethiopia.
     Debessay served as chairperson of the New York-based Eritrean
Relief Committee and was a member of the executive committee of
Eritreans for Peace and Democracy. Semret is a member of the Eritrean
Constitution Drafting Commission.
     After an enforced absence of 20 years, the Debessays, including
their son and daughter, were able to visit Eritrea in 1991 after the
country won its independence.
     It was a deram come true, Debessay said. He also spent his
sabbatical semester at the University of Asmara in 1993 and has been
instrumental in bringing a number of Eritrean students to the
University of Delaware.
     Another honor was recently bestowed on Debessay when he was
appointed University Marshal.
     He recently chaired the Faculty Senate Committee on Racial and
Cultural Diversity, and succeeds James Newton, director of the Black
American Studies Program, as commission chairperson.