The Barometer Online

Issue date: 2/12/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Luke Wenker DaMarcus Redeau works as a graduate teaching assistant for Intercultural Student Services in the Kerr Administrative Building.

DaMarcus Redeau, 23, made his first visit to the OSU campus the day he registered for classes at a START orientation during the summer of 2003.

"I didn't know what to expect," the Portland native said. "I was just really happy to be going to college."

On the day Redeau moved into Finley Hall, the shy freshman reached out to help a fellow student and quickly learned what life in a city lacking cultural diversity would be like.

"I was holding a door open for him because he was carrying something heavy and he made a comment about me already being there for a few weeks because athletes have to move in early," he said.

Despite common misconceptions he said he encounters frequently on a predominantly white campus, Redeau isn't here for athletics. In fact, the student who can't walk through campus without being recognized has gained his fame by becoming one of the most prominent leaders at OSU.

"In many ways he exemplifies why this office is here," said Terryl Ross, the director of the Office of Community and Diversity. "He's a very bright and talented young man."

During the summer of 2007, Redeau worked with teen leaders at Kidspirit through the PROMISE program run by the Office of Community and Diversity.

"PROMISE is an internship program designed to provide professional, managerial or technical paid work experience in state and local government agencies for Oregon State University juniors and seniors," according to the program's website.

The following summer, he became the student coordinator of PROMISE.

Among his many duties is to ensure that the program ran smoothly and that students were prepared to be valuable interns. Redeau set up weekly luncheons, put together packets for each of the interns and led discussions and orientations, he said.

"Last year PROMISE was the largest it's ever been in years," he said. "We had 39 interns."

At the end of the summer, he was responsible for creating a booklet that featured profiles of the interns. To complete the project, Redeau taught himself to use InDesign and visited each of the 39 students at their internship locations scattered throughout the surrounding Corvallis area.

Continued...

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