I had my appendix out a few months ago and when I got home from the hospital there was a card signed by a bunch of my coworkers. On top of that, they pooled $70 and pledged it toward my next song on Patreon. I was so touched. So I wrote a song for all the folks I work with fitting as many names and division acronyms in as I could.
It’s the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (at UT-Austin), so I called it DIVERSIFY, and spelled it out imagining everyone singing it with me as an anthem. This week we had our all-division staff meeting and I had a chance to sing it to over 200 collegues. As you can see below, it was a lot of fun and folks got into it. Listen to the the studio version on SoundCloud.
DIVERSIFY
D-I-V-E-R-S-I-F-Y
Don’t you know that if you want to grow got to diversify
D-I-V-E-R-S-I-F-Y
Don’t ya know that we’re here to show it to the university
I’m not just talkin bout color
Not just talkin bout race
Talkin bout gettin out of your bubble
And seeing it another way
Talkin bout your teachers
Talkin bout your staff
I’m talkin bout your leaders
You do the math
Talking globalization
And what will keep us strong
’bout difficult conversations
That help us get along, making us strong
D-I-V-E-R-S-I-F-Y
Sherri’s got the plan
Betty Jeanne’s gonna teach
Stella got the research
Simon gonna do IT
Ralph is gonna hook you up
Tatiana is doin the books
Helen and Heidi are holdin it down
While Milly and Thais are spreadin it round
Leslie’s got the story
Ron’s got design
J gonna make some web sites
Virginia got write some lines
Erica is on the board
Dr. V. is on the scene
Ruth has got the proof
Hannah’s got the VIP
Susan is writin the points
Patrick is takin it on
Jennifer is runnin it right
Leonard is fatherin sons
Maurice is puttin it on
Suzanne is writing it down
Robiaun’s making friends in high places
Angie’s putting smiles on all the kid’s faces
D-I-V-E-R-S-I-F-Y
We got the MEC and the GSC
with a space where you can truly be
LCAE, LCSP and NLP
gonna keep em goin to the university
The OIE and the CCRT
gonna make sure we got some equity
The triple A, B, PE and the HFSA
gonna make sure we got all kinds of faculty
The SSD got our ADAA
The UIL gonna run the race
The HOGG keepin us mentally healthy
The CEC gonna rock the East
The RFL is gonna find you funds
CDSI gonna make you rich
The LCCE gonna sign you up
The SJI make you an activist
D-I-V-E-R-S-I-F-Y
Diversify your money, diversify your mind,
D-I-V-E-R-S-I-F-Y
When you get out of your comfort zone you’ll know what it is to be alive