EEOC CHAIR TO SPEAK AT TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY

Naomi C. Earp to Deliver Address On Race Discrimination and Campus Diversity

WASHINGTON – On Monday, April 23, Naomi C. Earp, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), will deliver a speech at the Clyde Wells Fine Arts Building at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, at 1:30 p.m. Chair Earp will address race discrimination and the value of student diversity on campus.

Promoting inclusive workplaces for people of color has been a priority for Chair Earp during her tenure at EEOC.  On Feb. 28, she launched the Commission's E-RACE Initiative (Eradicating Racism And Colorism from Employment), a national outreach, education, and enforcement campaign focusing on new and emerging race and color issues in the 21st century workplace. 

In Fiscal Year 2006, the EEOC received 27,238 charges alleging race-based discrimination, accounting for 36 percent of the agency's private sector caseload.  The EEOC has also observed a substantial increase over the past 15 years in discrimination charge filings based on color, which have risen from 374 in FY 1992 to 1,241 in FY 2006.

Ms. Earp was designated Chair of the EEOC by President Bush on Sept. 1, 2006.  Since April 2003, she served as the Commission's Vice Chair.  Further information about Chair Earp is available on the EEOC's web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/earp.html.

Further information related to the E-RACE Initiative, is available on the EEOC's web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/e-race/index.html.  Additional information about the Commission can be found online at www.eeoc.gov.