Title: The Urban Leadership Learning Community at Canisius University
Presenter/s: Bennie Williams
Affiliation: Canisius University
Abstract: The Urban Leadership Learning Community at Canisius University was established in 2000 as an effort to support students from the Greater Buffalo Area. This program was designed to support students from historically underrepresented backgrounds and provide them with an opportunity to attend a prestigious institution of higher education. The program provided financial and academic support to set students up for success. After 24 years, the program has graduated over 150 students who are engaged in meaningful work across the country. This presentation will discuss how this program, which was created to diversify the student body, has impacted the campus community. Participants will learn about how the Jesuit values have influenced the creation and continuation of the program. As diversity, equity and inclusion continue to be scrutinized, this program has been able to withstand the challenges and continue to thrive. With the recent Supreme Court decision to reverse affirmative action, this program has had to pivot and adjust to stay true to its mission and values. This presentation will discuss the strategies that have been implemented to maintain its integrity and core foundation and purpose.
Title: Disabling Silos: Empowering Community to Build Inclusion for Students with Disabilities
Presenter/s: Justin Hiniker, Meera Layton, Marcus Hernandez, Sherece Alaniz, Shelby Bitz, Erin Hager, Strider Swope
Affiliation: Colorado State University Pueblo
Abstract: Although the Americans with Disabilities Act calls for whole organizations to care for physical and digital access to their opportunities, higher education silos this responsibility to their disability resource offices. The process of self-identifying can be alienating to students with disabilities: disability resource offices require disability documentation, faculty require notification of eligible accommodations, and various support offices may require specific guidance for individual students. Although these organizational structures may serve a purpose, it can be alienating for students with disabilities more familiar with collaborative communities. Research has shown that investing in inclusion leads to positive outcomes—including retention and persistence—for students with disabilities. To promote servingness for students with disabilities, Disability Resources at Colorado State University Pueblo conducted a professional development series in Summer 2023 for a broad set of institutional partners designed to give them a philosophical background to create inclusive access within their programs. Select participants were then brought to the 2023 national Association on Higher Education and Disability conference to further develop efficacy in disability inclusion work within their own functional areas. A panel of participants will share their interests in engaging in the professional development and unfold how the experience informs their current professional practice.
Title: Development of DEIBA Professional Development Series for HSIs
Presenter/s: Erin Carillo-Stresow
Affiliation: Colorado State University Pueblo
Abstract: "In DEIBA work and designated institutional statuses of HSI, MSI, TCU, HCBU, and Native-American Serving Institutions, it is critical to provide campus-wide professional development surrounding these designations, their resources, federal guidelines, and operationalization. CSU Pueblo is a designated HSI/MSI. The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has developed a professional development series: 1) CSUP is an HSI. What is an HSI? This session discusses in detail HSI, MSI, TCU, HCBU, and Native-American Serving Institutions designations and fully explores what it means to be an HSI. The use of Garcia et al.'s framework to operational HSI components. 2) How to Access HSI Funds at CSU Pueblo. As well as the successful funding across campus. 3) What does it mean to be an (HSI) ally? 4) Supporting and Celebrating Latinx/Multicultural Training and Programming Event. 5) The Garcia Series and a Practitioner's Workbook. Participants engage in a full academic year long series that studies all of Garcia's works surrounding HSIs. This series is intended to be a part of the onboarding of CSU Pueblo employees and a part of CSU Pueblo's DEI Professional Development Certificate. This series 1 - 4 will also be facilitated during HSI Week and Hispanic Heritage Month and annually on regular basis throughout the academic year. This training series will be proposed to the Provost's Office to be considered for a micro-badge/micro-certification for undergraduate and graduate students.
This will be a presentation describing and displaying this training series and discussion around the importance of why this must exist within the institution."
Title: Fundraising 101: Sustaining Your Diversity and Inclusion Efforts
Presenter/s: Devin Owens
Affiliation: Creighton University
Abstract: Provide sustainable communications strategies for equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) leaders and their colleagues in higher education to successfully advocate for the investment of time/talent/treasure into programming for underrepresented students and/or student-led organizations.
Title: Utilizing an Equity-Minded Leadership Framework
Presenter/s: Rashain Adams
Affiliation: Fordham University
Abstract: As Higher Education Professionals, we need to use an Equity-Minded Leadership framework combining the SJI and SLD (NASPA/ACPA competencies) to transform campus partnerships to ensure the success of students. We need to recognize that today's students are not yesterday's students, and that notion applies uniquely to how we engage with diverse students. This workshop is designed to share how the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Fordham University has developed a strategic way to engage with departments on campus to create collaborative partnerships that assist diverse students in a holistic way. Student development for diverse students is then accomplished through a social justice, student development, and equity-minded leadership lens. Partnerships with Student Involvement, Career Center, Campus Ministry, Center for Community Engaged Learning, Counseling and Psychological Services, Chief Diversity Officer, and Academics with connections to cultural clubs to engage this student population and provide them with a sense of belonging and the appropriate student development needed for overall student success.
Title: Inspiring Hope and Interest in Higher Education
Presenter/s: Charlene Brown-Mckenzie
Affiliation: George Town
Abstract: This session will explore programs and opportunities that promote the belonging, well-being, and academic success of BIPOC first-generation college students at our Jesuit institutions. Racial and ethnic minority groups face extraordinary challenges in access to and success in higher education. Does what happens before college matter?(Armour, 2020) We will consider interventions that guide and prepare students for the cultural norms, skills, and behaviors of postsecondary education through the lens of cultural capital—skills, knowledge, abilities, and behaviors obtained through educational attainment and deemed valuable by society. The concept of cultural capital as an embodied definition of “community cultural wealth” (Yosso 2005) empowers students of color to utilize the assets already abundant in themselves and their communities which can be a model for supporting student success. Accompanying our youth for “a hope-filled future” can include opportunities for them to gain the skills and knowledge necessary for navigating and thriving in postsecondary education.
Title: ISN's Undocu Network: Building Community by Investing in Directly-Impacted Student Leadership
Presenter/s: Jorge Palacios
Affiliation: Ignatian Solidarity Network
Abstract: The Ignatian Solidarity Network's (ISN) Undocu Network is a coalition of students and young alumni of Jesuit and other Catholic colleges and universities directly impacted by migration justice. Members are either undocumented (including DACA recipients and TPS holders) or come from mixed-status households. The network exists so that members can build community to share their experiences and learn from one another while engaging in advocacy and organizing efforts in their communities, at their institutions, and on the national level. Through monthly Zoom meetings, a yearly 3-day summit, and regular advocacy and relationship building, the Undocu Network has grown significantly since it began in 2020 to include members from 10 Jesuit universities and one other Catholic university. This presentation will offer up the Undocu Network as a model for inter-university collaboration that centers and prioritizes student leadership and participation. Participants will hear about the experiences of students who have participated in Undocu Network programming, how it has shaped their leadership, and how they have mobilized on their campuses to work for institutional change that supports undocumented students. Then, participants will have the opportunity to discuss and learn best practices from one another in supporting these students.
Title: Professional Development Series for Faculty and Staff: A Blueprint for Engaging Through Education
Presenter/s: Marshawn Razor
Affiliation: Loyola University Chicago
Abstract: Loyola University Chicago's Office of Institutional DEI was formed in November 2021 and identified a gap in supporting the DEI journey of faculty and staff who support our students in an ever-changing world. While some DEI professional development training existed, none was specific to Loyola, our Jesuit Identity and the needs expressed by our faculty and staff. With that, our office developed and launched an in-person 4-part DEIB series that is designed to meet our faculty + staff community where they are, to be interactive, and to create a brave space for discussion. I would love to share our process, provide a sample of the experience, and the many lessons learned from development, to marketing, creating buy-in, execution, and where we see this series going.
Title: Transformation of perspective: Changing ourselves to transform the World
Presenter/s: Paresha Haley
Affiliation: Regis University
Abstract: In today's World, ‘Love’ is pitted against ‘Justice’, which creates an objective perception in our social relationships. Let's allow ourselves to deeply understand how our emotions play out in the behaviors we portray, which are very much related to our ability to belong. Let us change our perspective on "love" and how it's supposed to be interconnected with Justice. The relation between Justice and the form of love can shift the lens of seeking beneficence in people around us. There are so many diverse emotions in each of us that flow into our actions that express the culture of communities, institutions, and society. There is a way to create the psychological safety space for love and Justice to be interdependent while we love our thy neighbors.
Title: Crash Course in Community: Service Learning at an HSI
Presenter/s: Sarah Puett, Jason Taylor
Affiliation: Regis University
Abstract: This presentation reports the findings of a year-long service-learning project among a cohort of first year students at a Hispanic Serving Institution in Denver (Regis). Branching the first-year composition course and both a public speaking and a philosophy course, our project traces students’ discernment and development, their material production, and their experiential fieldwork at various local agencies seeking to address essential human needs and promote justice. What does justice, and “just” discourse, look like for students who start their rhetorical education with community-based fieldwork? How do we need to re-consider our pedagogy when we ask students to stay firmly planted in a community-based site, yet move between composition and communication courses? What do we stand to learn about fieldwork that perhaps only newcomers to the university can teach us? We hope to recommend best practices – or, “lessons to unlearn” – for educators who bridge the synthetic divide between these disciplines. Perhaps most importantly we hope to bring student voice to the forefront of this pedagogical and methodological conversation, particularly about what it means to be for and with others in such a polarized cultural climate.
Title: Campus Culture: Enhancing love and justice through student organizations
Presenter/s: Sophia Siong, Lizzie Truong, Naomi Lumban-Gaol, Jenna Martin
Affiliation: Regis University
Abstract: To attract, retain, and graduate students, AJCU’s must teach and encourage students to practice Jesuit values both in and out of the classroom. In doing so, students learn to better serve each other and foster a more just and compassionate institute. Student led organizations play a key role in magnifying equity, inclusiveness, and love by building community, enhancing student engagement, and promoting faculty-student connection, while benefiting social and professional development (Jones & Giles, 2022; Sa, 2023). Though student organizations can be immensely helpful in fostering a positive campus climate, what specific actions ought we take to amplify the way we serve today’s students? In this presentation, participants will collaborate with current student leaders of the Asian Student Alliance (ASA) and Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), two of the oldest existing student groups at Regis, to better understand their roles in serving their peers. Additionally, as leaders of groups with members who often face discrimination and racism, participants can learn ways these student leaders develop inclusive and diverse programming focused on Jesuit values including Cura Personalis and Magis, to create a more just and loving campus community including students identifying with the Asian community, and the larger Regis population. This will be done by modeling and dissecting successful ASA/SASE events such as Lunar New Year, Harvest Moon Festival, and speakers about Asian representation.
Title: Transformative Education: Graduating Culturally Responsive Healthcare Leaders
Presenter/s: Heidi Eigsti
Affiliation: Regis University
Abstract: Using the theoretical framework in Bennett's1 model of intercultural sensitivity, the session will address efforts to create an organizational culture of belonging in a school of interprofessional healthcare programs. The course instructors will describe how faculty, staff and students use the Intercultural Developmental Inventory (IDI) as a tool for self-assessment and a framework to inform targeted DEI development. An emphasis will be placed on how an individual’s and group’s cultural orientation sets a foundation for a commitment to obtaining cultural knowledge, skills and attitudes that foster inclusive communities. The presenters will describe how IDI reports provide student learners and educators with key information to develop individualized goals, create intentional intercultural learning experiences and reflect on personal change over time. Real life examples will be used to facilitate discussion on how IDI reports can inform strategic planning, identify shared development needs, and implement a long-term plan for DEI professional development. Research results investigating the relationship between intercultural sensitivity and leadership behaviors in 400 Doctor of Physical Therapy students will be used to stimulate small group discussion on best practice for implementing transformative education that prepares health care leaders who can provide culturally responsive care and advocate for healthcare access and equity.
Title: History and the Integration of Bilingualism in an HSI
Presenter/s: Heider Tun Tun
Affiliation: Regis University
Abstract: As Regis University received its designation as HSI, there have been efforts to ground this distinction within the realities of our university. Also, in recent years, there have been discussions about re-designing the core curriculum which have led to new questions about how to honor this distinction. In an environment where the tendency is to cut some of the pillars of the liberal arts foundations, such as history, philosophy, and language classes, the question remains about how to honor our status and commitment to our students while facing a new academic environment. In this presentation, I argue that bilingualism in academic conversations is a way to keep advancing our commitments toward the HSI designation. Rather than considering the use of Spanish in the classroom and public settings as an isolated topic, I will present my efforts to include Spanish in my academic work as a historian. By elevating Spanish and English on the same level, I have been working on including the voices and experiences of those who might fit within the umbrella term of "Hispanic."
Title: Religious/spiritual/secular (RSS) diversity at the intersection of DEI and Jesuit Mission Integration
Presenter/s: Russell CD Arnold, Julia Brumbaugh
Affiliation: Regis University
Abstract: It seems that in many places in our society, DEI conversations focus on race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality and only engage religious or spiritual diversity secondarily. While our Jesuit, Catholic universities are committed to engaging questions of faith and practice, our efforts at Mission integration can also present engaging religious, spiritual, and secular diversity as at best accepting a shared commitment to justice and at worst distracting us from efforts to strengthen a rich Jesuit, Catholic institutional identity. This program invites participants into a conversation that centers deep dialogue across religious, spiritual, and secular differences. It will open by sharing an ongoing conversation between friends that began more than a decade ago: a Catholic Theologian deeply formed in Jesuit education, and a Jewish Interfaith Studies scholar with a complex religious identity who arrived with little knowledge of the Jesuits. We will share from our individual stories and our shared story to provoke a conversation about how deep and active engagement with religious/spiritual diversity can ground and deepen our DEI work as an expression of our interfaith Jesuit Catholic mission.
Title: Revolutionizing textbooks and course materials for love and justice: An introduction to Open Education Resources (OER)
Presenter/s: Amy Hezel, Kate Burns, Rhiana Murphy, Sara Satkowiak,
Affiliation: Regis University
Abstract: The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement is centered around building a more just and humane world through transformative education. OER allows for more affordable textbooks and course materials, expands access to high-quality content, and encourages a more diverse and equitable education system. This presentation covers the basics of Open Educational Resources (OER) - what they are and how they work – as well as the economic and community benefits of OER. The presentation will ask participants to consider the ways in which values of Jesuit Higher Education connect with the aims of OER. In addition, participants will have an opportunity to consider how OER aligns with the concepts of belongingness and servingness for a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). The presentation will be interactive and will include time for reflecting and building next steps to bring back to your institution and classroom. Participants will learn about the mutually empowering possibilities of OER, ultimately, empowering participants, their colleagues, their faculty, and their students.
Title: Linguistically Responsive Instruction: Where is the love (and justice)?
Presenter/s: Jenna Martin
Affiliation: Regis University
Abstract: Culturally Responsive/Sustaining pedagogy (Gay, 2018; Paris, 2012) acknowledges the relationship of culture and language, but scholars in this field pointed out that simply valuing language was inadequate to providing students linguistic access to learning and thus, linguistically responsive pedagogy was theorized and applied to practice—particularly focused on teacher preparation programs (Coady, et al., 2013; Filmore & Snow, 2000; Lucas & Villegas, 2010). Currently, linguistically responsive/sustaining pedagogy is a growing area of study in higher education (Gallagher & Haan, 2017; Haan & Gallagher, 2022) in relation to heritage learners and language study (Moreno, 2020), international student support on American campuses (Zhang-Wu & Brisk, 2021) and even English medium instruction on international campuses (Hillman, 2021). But how can linguistically responsive/sustaining pedagogy support transforming our institutions for love and justice? This pedagogy underscores the specific needs of multilingual learning students and the teachers who teach them. Language is inextricably intertwined with a person’s identity and supporting students’ linguistic identities is a way for AJCUs to attend to Cura Personalis. Likewise, applying linguistically responsive/sustaining instruction is a way for us to enact Magis. Without attending to, and supporting, students’ linguistics needs- can we transform our institutions for love and justice? This workshop seeks to create a space for participants to examine linguistically responsive pedagogy and instruction, hear from students how this pedagogy could support their needs, assess the viability of these theories and practices within their contexts, and leave with a next step and/or implications for implementing linguistically responsive instruction (LRI) within their role and institution.
Title: Exploring Together: Common Intellectual Experiences and a Community of Care
Presenter/s: Becky Vartabedian, Trudi Wright
Affiliation: Regis University
Abstract: Recognizing that students - especially first-generation students and students from educational backgrounds that are traditionally underserved - deserve to encounter high impact practices in teaching and learning, we designed an interdisciplinary team-taught course for students in their first semester of college. Our inaugural class, developed and run in fall 2023, brings together the disciplines of musicology and philosophy to help students practice the foundational habits of listening and thinking. Our learning community explores and celebrates a life of the mind and heart, and cultivates a common intellectual experience guided by the question, How ought we to live? This workshop will (1) discuss the transformations required from free-standing core or general education classes to integrate high-impact practices; (2) provide perspectives from student members of our learning community, and how it supported their arrival to our university; and (3) invite participants to share and discuss similar strategies, experiences, and outcomes in their classrooms and institutions.
Title: Creating Inclusive Higher Education Environments for Students with Intellectual Disabilities
Presenter/s: Jeanine Coleman, Morgan McNeill, Lauren Gray, Grace Maddox, Andrew Regan, Sam Levin
Affiliation: Regis University
Abstract: The positive impact of post-secondary education is well-documented for the general population. Although, historically, people with intellectual disabilities have had limited access to higher education, which has limited their access to career opportunities, often resulting in poverty. Regis University’s GLOBAL Inclusive Program is addressing this problem. The GLOBAL Inclusive Program is a college academic certificate program for people with intellectual disabilities. The academic coursework and career exploration aims to prepare students for employment and independent living with the goal of self-sufficiency. Regis has a long history of supporting and advancing the lives of diverse students, particularly those who have disabilities. We have faculty who have committed their lives to bench science in genetic disorders, to preparing future teachers and therapists, and who engage deeply with the community in serving children and adults with disabilities. The GLOBAL Inclusive Program is consistent with our mission to serve all members of our community. The program philosophy resonates deeply with Regis’ own Jesuit values. Regis educates the whole student which reflects the Jesuit value of Cura Personalis or care for the whole person. Bringing together the entire university community in support of these students reflects the Jesuit values of People for and with Others and Contemplatives in Action. Finally, implementing this program honors the diversity, dignity, and autonomy of students who are often overlooked by the academy, and reflects the Jesuit value of Finding God in All Things. In this session, we will present an innovative and inclusive higher education program for students with intellectual disabilities.
Title: EquiLaw: Diversifying Legal Pathways Campaign
Presenter/s: Courtney Griffin
Affiliation: University of Detroit Mercy, School of Law
Abstract: Detroit Mercy Law is committed to their Jesuit/Mercy values. As a result fostering an inclusive and diverse community that celebrates and values individuals from all backgrounds, identities, and experiences stands at the forefront. This session highlights our EquiLaw campaign, along with the challenges and best practices learned along the way. Equilaw targets current high school students from Metro-Detroit to allow them to see themselves in the legal field and inform them of law school and careers in law. EquiLaw aims to promote and showcase Detroit Mercy Law as a welcoming environment where students feel welcome, supported, and empowered to succeed. The campaign culminates with a law school preview day, where students visit the law school, attend a mock class, and begin to see themselves as law students. Participants will leave the session with a roadmap to create a community engagement plan utilizing their university’s mission for their respective levels of higher education.
