When the 2007 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing convened on Monday morning, the difference was apparent. Most of the 400 people in the room were younger than 30, and pale-skinned guys were in the minority. There was a roughly equal mix of black and Latino students, and there were more women than men. They were stylish and fun, too. They were itching to go to Disneyworld, which was just across the street. “We’re not people with big glasses and pocket protectors who talk in a monotone,” said Christopher Harris, a grad student at UC Irvine.

This was a crowd with a mission: breaking in. The plenary speaker set the tone. “Fundamental ideas about the role of computing in society are going to change, and your contributions are going to be critical,” said Shirley Malcolm, head of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The technical stuff isn’t the most important part of computing, she said. She encouraged the crowd to think of the machines as tools that can be used to create a better world. Several reports from the conference are posted in Road Reports.