NOTRE DAME COLLEGE’S TOLERANCE RESOURCE CENTER PRESENTS:

"Extenuations and Circumstances”
a lecture by
Bruce Kafer, MSN, RN

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio— September 3, 2008 -Notre Dame College’s Tolerance Resource Center will launch its Fall Focus on Native Americans with a presentation by Bruce Kafer. Entitled “Extenuations and Circumstances,” the lecture will provide an overview of the issues facing Native Americans today. Bruce Kafer is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe (Oglala Lakota Nation) and is a registered nurse within the Department of Veterans Affairs.  He is also a graduate of Cleveland State University where he attained an MSN in Population Health Nursing.  He also possesses a BSN and an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Community Mental Health Technology.  Kafer has been on the staff at Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center for the past eight years.  Prior to joining the government he worked in the private sector and for non-profit agencies in mental health and substance abuse.  Kafer is currently pursuing a PhD in Nursing at Case Western Reserve University and is an American Nurses Association/ SAMHSA Pre-Doctoral Fellow.

Kafer works locally in American Indian and homeless programs and is a stalwart advocate for indigenous peoples. He is also a principal advocate for veterans and their families. Nationally he has served on the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Native American Advisory Council and currently works with the Native American workgroup of the Under Secretary for Health Diversity Advisory Board. Kafer also works with the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System and the New Mexico VA Health Care System in the biannual implementation of their Native American “Gathering of Healers” programs.  These innovative experiential training programs are based on the Native American paradigm of spirit, mind and body and are key learning opportunities for VA staff.

Kafer also produced a national video for the U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs entitled Native America: Diversity Within Diversity. The film received an independent film award and used an oral storytelling format to follow him in his nursing practice locally and in Arizona with Native American veterans and also provided key instruction on the diversity within Native America.

The lecture is on Wednesday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m. in Notre Dame College’s Performing Arts Center, located on the ground floor of the Administration Building. It is free of charge and open to the general public. For more information, contact Karen Zoller at 216-373-5267. Check the Tolerance Resource Center web site for updates on upcoming events for fall 2008: www.notredamecollege.edu/tolerance/.