Diversity & Inclusion Lecture Series to Inspire Courageous Conversations

KEYS TO THE ARTICLE

• This year’s Diversity & Inclusion Lecture Series kicks off Sept. 24 with a conversation on intersectional allyship and campus activism with Amber Hikes, chief equity and inclusion officer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
• The series this year is focusing on the themes of structural inequality and protest, engaging faculty and outside expertise to provide context to social justice issues making news across the country and world.
• Organizers are hoping the series, which will also include a second campus Day of Dialogue in February, will provide space for the SJU community to continue having honest and open conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion.

This year’s Diversity & Inclusion Lecture Series will take an intentional approach to engaging our community in conversations about diversity, equality and inclusion, providing actionable steps to engage with social justice issues impacting many community members directly and making headlines across the nation and world. 

“We’re shifting our focus to be more intentional and deliberate,” says Nicole Stokes, Ph.D., associate provost for diversity, equity and inclusion, of the series, which kicks off its new season on Sept. 24 with Amber Hikes, chief equity and inclusion officer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “We want to lean in and engage our campus in these conversations about different aspects of racial and structural inequality.”

Structural inequality and protest are the themes of this year’s lecture series. “Every year, we’ll change the theme to focus on what’s current and relevant to do a deep-dive engagement,” says Stokes. “We really wanted to spend this year looking at the events leading up to what we observed this summer with the protests across the country. The death of George Floyd was not the cause, but rather the tipping point of frustration with structural inequality.”

In addition to creating year-long themes for the series, Stokes has created a new faculty Signature Series that will run simultaneously with the diversity and inclusion series. The Signature Series will highlight Saint Joseph’s faculty who teach courses that include discussions about the year’s themes. “We asked faculty and students if there was anyone who did scholarly work in this area, and whose classes students are excited to attend.” 

The first speaker in the Signature Series will be Stephanie Tryce, J.D., assistant professor of marketing on Oct. 5. She will focus on the history of athletes using their platforms for protest movements for social change with contemporaries including Colin Kaepernick. Potential future topics from faculty include language pertaining to gender identity and expression, intersectionality in higher education and branding and marketing toward different racial and ethnic demographic groups.

The addition of the Signature Series will be complementary to the Diversity and Inclusion Speakers series and will provide additional points of engagement into these topics and issues highlighting Saint Joseph’s faculty scholarship. “We are booked through January,” says Stokes of the external speakers for the Diversity & Inclusion Lecture Series. “We are finalizing our February speaker, who will deliver the keynote lecture on this year’s Day of Dialogue.”

Launched in February 2020, the Day of Dialogue was created to build upon conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion that have already begun throughout the campus community by providing practical, participatory and action-oriented sessions. “People want to be able to have conversations about difficult topics, but they don’t know how to go about it, or aren’t comfortable initiating,” says Imani Briscoe, program specialist for inclusion and diversity experiential programming. “It was an opportunity for people to share and be in community with one another, to have a conversation no matter what intersectionalities you might have.”

“There is a desire to engage in difficult conversations,” adds Stokes. “But there is also a hesitancy, because people are cautious about their skill level in how to have these conversations.”

The Student Senate is a co-sponsor of this year’s first Diversity & Inclusion Lecture Series speaker. Hikes’ virtual lecture is scheduled for Sept. 24 at 5 p.m., and will focus on intersectional allyship and campus activism.

“The Student Senate has been active in engaging the campus community in skills and mindsets that foster the need for civic engagement and civil discourse,” Stokes says. “They are a key co-sponsor for our kick off event for the Diversity & Inclusion Lecture Series. Hikes' focus on intersectional allyship and campus activism is timely and highly relevant for our campus community.”

Stokes has high hopes for the series. “I hope this will provide people with the chance to expand their views, attitudes and perspectives about structural inequality, and I hope people will see the points where our systems need to change and grow as people change and grow.” 

She also sees the chance for this series to provide some guidance for those who want to help but don’t know how. “People may be thinking, ‘I’m not leading a political movement, but I’m a caring human being who doesn’t want to see people in our community being treated badly. What can I do about that?’” I hope this series will engage people – individually and in their circles of influence – to answer that question, one person and one action at a time.”

Events planned thus far for the Diversity & Inclusion Lecture Series include: 

Intersectional Allyship and Campus Activism
Sept. 24 at 5 p.m.
Speaker: Amber Hikes, chief equity and inclusion officer, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Advocacy In The Digital Age: Changing The World One Click At A Time
Oct. 19 at 5 p.m.
Speaker: Jonathan Lovitz, senior vice president, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce

Gender and Pay Equity in the Post COVID-19 Workforce
Nov. 12 at 5 p.m.
Speakers: Randi Teplitz, commissioner, Pennsylvania Commission for Women and assistant dean of Commonwealth Law School, Harrisburg, Pa.; Tiffany Tavarez, commissioner, Pennsylvania Commission for Women and vice president for community relations at Wells Fargo; and BJ Leber, commissioner, Pennsylvania Commission for Women and president and CEO of Adagio Health Care for All Women

Challenging Orthodoxy: A Necessary Step in the Struggle for Educational Equity
Jan. 28 at 5 p.m.
Speaker: Farah Jimenez, president and CEO, Philadelphia Education Fund