Faculty and Students Attend NAIS People of Color and Student Diversity Leadership Conferences
During the first week in December, faculty members Sara Krauss, Jason Goodwin, Sam Tarnasky, and a group of students attended the conferences in Indianapolis.
Tahrieq Koonce '17, Amanda Clizbe '17, Alex Stafford '16, and Olivia Galli '16, were the four students that participated in the Student Diversity Leadership Conference that ran parallel to the NAIS People of Color Conference.
Alex Stafford explained, “It is truly hard to sum up in words how incredibly important and special this conference is. To be surrounded by 1600 other students who all are so aware of the inequalities within society and so open and willing to discuss incredibly uncomfortable topics is very liberating. You learn things about yourself and about the way in which the world works that you wouldn't otherwise, and even in a room of 1600 people, you feel like an individual. You feel like you matter.”
The faculty that attended the People of Color Conference learned strategies to continue our own community conversations about diversity. They attended sessions where other schools gave examples of programs that are working, of challenges they had to overcome, and advice on where to start with this kind of work.
Sam Tarnasky explained, “We all had the chance to reflect personally and also professionally. We were able to consider our own feelings on these topics and also to think about our community and how we can be the welcoming, open, and conscious place that we want to be.”
The faculty and student group have since returned to campus and have several ideas that they are planning to implement in order to start fulfilling our diversity mission statement in tangible and effective ways.
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