Pullias Center Director to Participate in Webinar on Race and Crisis Management in Higher Education on June 22
Adrianna Kezar, Director of the Pullias Center, is participating in a special webinar titled “Race and Crisis at a Crossroads” on Monday, June 22, 2020 at 1:00 pm ET.
In collaboration with American University, the American Council on Education (ACE) is hosting this webinar to discuss the intersecting issues of race and crisis leadership in higher education. The event will center around the presentation and discussion of findings of a new report, “Leading After A Racial Crisis: Weaving a Campus Tapestry of Diversity and Inclusion,” conducted after an initial three-year study led by the Pullias Center in collaboration with ACE on how University of Missouri navigated its 2015-16 racial crisis from not addressing student concerns related to racism.
That report is a follow up to “Speaking Truth and Acting with Integrity: Confronting Challenges of Campus Racial Climate.” That initial report from the study dealt with leading after a racial crisis, introducing a collective trauma framework, and the emotional healing that needs to occur on many levels.
Attendees will hear from researchers, practitioners, and current and former campus leaders at Missouri about their experiences navigating the crisis and the resulting lessons learned by its community. Additionally, speakers will address the evolving landscape of diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus and discuss potential strategies higher education leaders develop their capacity for diversity, equity and inclusion work on campus. Participants will also join moderated breakout sessions for small group discussions.
“Our research took a close look at what happens when you do not facilitate healing on campus after events that are very similar to what we are experiencing across the country right now,” notes Adrianna Kezar, Endowed Professor and Dean’s Professor of Leadership, University of Southern California. “As racial tensions in America continue to flare, it is the responsibility of the higher education leaders to hear, protect, and support all students, faculty and staff. It is this process we will examine and discuss in the webinar.”
The speaker panel includes Fanta Aw, Vice President of Campus Life & Inclusive Excellence at American University, Mun Y. Choi, Chancellor, University of Missouri, and Kevin McDonald, University of Missouri’s former Vice Chancellor for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity, and is now the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Virginia.
This free event will be moderated by ACE and is open to all college and university leaders interested in developing strategies for navigating a racial crisis on campus, creating racial healing, and implementing a campus-wide framework for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Visit the Pullias Center’s Equity and Leadership page to learn more about this and related research or sign up for the Pullias Center’s newsletter.