The 18th annual Diversity Symposium has grown to an entire week devoted to exploring issues surrounding diversity and inclusion on the Colorado State University campus. All events, which will take place Oct. 1-5 in the Lory Student Center, are completely free and open to the public.
Here are some highlights; complete schedule of all sessions available at the Diversity Symposium website.
Monday, Oct. 1
Journalist and author of Feminist Fight Club Jessica Bennett helped kick off last year’s Diversity Symposium with a fireside chat on how to challenge subtle sexism in the workplace, and Cori Wong, Ph.D., director of the Women & Gender Collaborative, announced the launch of a Feminist Fight Club here on campus. This year, the first day of the week is devoted to what the CSU Feminist Fight Club has been doing, with a 9 a.m. panel featuring CSU President Tony Frank, Wong, and others, and afternoon breakout sessions on a variety of related topics. Lory Student Center.
Tuesday, Oct. 2
CSU Inspire brings an Ignite-style session to the Lory Student Center Theatre, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. The talks, by CSU faculty and staff, featuring cutting-edge research on diversity and inclusion, in short 8-minute presentations. Presenters include Elizabeth Sink, Tom Biedscheid, Bridgette Johnson, and Vincent Basile.
Light lunch will be provided. Tickets are not required but seating is limited, so come early.
Wednesday, Oct. 3
Cornell William Brooks, civil rights attorney and past president of NAACP, delivers the symposium’s keynote address in the LSC Theater, 5:30-7 p.m. During his tenure, 2014-17, he led the NAACP to 11 victories against voter suppression. A graduate of both Head Start and Yale Law School, Brooks is also an ordained minister, social justice activist, coalition builder and writer.
Thursday, Oct. 4
Susan Faircloth, Ph.D., new director of the CSU School of Education, presents Beyond Feathers and Fluff: Teaching About and With American Indians, in the LSC Theater, 9-11 a.m.
New this year, Diversity Connection offers CSU students and student organizations an exclusive opportunity to meet and make meaningful connections with employers especially interested in hiring students from traditionally underrepresented populations, 4-6:30 in the LSC Theater.
Friday, Oct. 5
The week wraps up when Lecia Brooks, outreach director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, returns to campus, 8:30-10 a.m., in the Longs Peak Room of the LSC. Brooks, who spoke at CSU during Black History Month this year, also serves as director of the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery, Alabama, designed to provide a deeper understanding of the civil rights movement in the U.S.
Three full days of sessions
In addition to these remarkable sessions, the 2018 Diversity Symposium includes nearly 50 different presentations on topics ranging from bias awareness and relationships across lines of difference to culturally responsive teaching and disability rights advocacy, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday; no sessions scheduled on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., to allow the campus community to attend the President’s Fall Address and University Picnic on the Oval.
The complete schedule for the Diversity Symposium is on the Office of the Vice President for Diversity website, and is also available through the Guidebook app for smartphones.
For more information, contact Alicia Sprague, training coordinator, Alicia.sprague@colostate.edu, (970) 491-6544.
