Opening Keynote 

Lydia X. Z. Brown

View the recorded Opening Keynote talk from Lydia X. Z. Brown (ASL interpretation and closed captioning available) on the CTL's Vimeo Channel.

BeVocal Collaboration 101: Getting empowered to create equity with bystander intervention​

Sahtiya Hammell (BeVocal), Tony Vo (Center for Asian American Studies), Liz Elsen (Gender and Sexuality Center), Jenny Walker (Services for Students with Disabilities), and Emily Shryock (Services for Students with Disabilities

This roundtable discussion will feature BeVocal staff and campus partners who have infused bystander intervention into their departments, classrooms or programs. Our roundtable will give attendees an opportunity to hear briefly from a range of past collaborators with BeVocal responding to the question "What prompted you to infuse bystander intervention, and how has bystander intervention helped?” The majority of the session will be spent in small break out rooms where attendees will be able to engage directly with one or two of our panelists as they think proactively about being empowered to embed intervention on behalf of equity in their learning environment.

Session agenda and notes

How can we improve UT’s campus climate through inclusive leadership?

Dr. Molly Hatcher (Center for Teaching and Learning), Dr. Jen Moon (Molecular Biosciences)

This roundtable is a place to collectively explore models of leadership critical to healing institutional inequities. We invite UT instructors, staff, and students to explore leadership strategies that promote equity, mindfulness, courage, creativity, and compassion. Participants will self-reflect on their own leadership styles and approaches, build community with peers in leadership roles by sharing resources and experiences, and set goals for personal growth. We will collectively chart a forward-looking path that creatively responds to the need for models of compassionate, introspective, courageous leadership in higher education that are conscious and intentional, make visible and address inequalities and marginalizations, reduce reactivity and increase mindfulness, are attuned to peoples’ needs and contexts, and encourage creativity and resourcefulness within scarcity.  Finally, we will reflect upon how these leadership dispositions can contribute to an overall shift in campus climate that will enhance student learning.

Session worksheet and brainstorming topics

DEI Education Inside and Outside the Classroom: Antiracism, Bias Busters, Courageous Conversations and Difficult Dialogues

Paige Schilt (Sanger Learning Center), Nisha Abraham (Sanger Learning Center)

When it comes to DEI initiatives, there are many different audiences and approaches, and each has its own goals and assumptions. In this session, we invite faculty and staff who have been implementing DEI education inside or outside the classroom, such as trainings, workshops, course-based initiatives, curriculum redesign, etc. As a group, we will articulate the goals and assumptions of our initiatives and reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. Our goal will be to collaboratively generate a matrix of approaches with information and suggestions for using each one.

DEI Approaches Rubric

Example from Schilt and Abraham: Anti-Racism Training Scenarios

ConversASIAN: Unpacking the Asian Identities Together

Quỳnh-Hương N. Nguyễn (Gender & Sexuality Center)

Participants can expect to talk about what are some skills and actions participants can take to continue their advocacy to create change and inclusive space for the Asian community. We will be focusing on discussing different and difficult topics, challenges, and experiences related to the Asian diaspora. It is important to note that this presentation will help start the conversation on how to advocate and unlearn messaging and stereotypes about the API community. We will tackle how the model minority has been socialized withing and outside of the Asian community.

Speak Up: The Role of Storytelling in the Future of Equitable Higher Education Practices

Faylita Hicks, activist, writer, and interdisciplinary artist

Participants will be invited to take part in a round table discussion about the role of storytelling in the field of higher education. From the discussion, they will be encouraged to craft their own dynamic value statement outlining their commitments to inclusive practices going forward. 

For more information about our amazing closing speaker, visit her website or check out their critically acclaimed debut book of poetry, HoodWitch.

Values-Based Messaging Tool: VPSA (from The Opportunity Agenda)

Vision, Values, and Voice: a Communications Toolkit (from The Opportunity Agenda)