The fifth annual 2023 Equity and Inclusion Conference is underway. Mark your calendars and learn about ways to engage in diversity and help students and people have a sense of belonging in the community.
“The target is really everyone. We want students, faculty, staff, and community members to attend. The goal is for people to leave the conference with key tangible takeaways on how they can make their student organizations, classrooms, businesses, or if you’re an administrator, how do you make the campus as a whole a more welcoming and inclusive space for everyone,” stated Nathaniel Farnor, the coordinator for Leadership and Civic Engagement.
The annual Equity and Inclusion Conference takes place Sept. 28-30 inside the D.P Culp Student Center. Since 2018, this conference has increased attendance and brought awareness and understanding about the different aspects of a diverse and equal community. The goal of the conference ensure that people are left with an impactful insight into how to be inclusive to all groups of people and how they can cater to welcoming and treating them equally so that it will have a lasting impact on them.
Between these three days, the conference is broken into different groups and breakout sessions that cater to the attendees. Keynote speakers, Imani Perry and Gene Yang are scheduled to speak on Thursday and Friday night and share their experiences and advice. The different breakout sessions give students, graduate students and faculty/staff the opportunity to learn about ways to advocate and practice these important values, along with how to implement these words into action around campus and throughout the community.
“There will be some sessions that are very specific for student leaders on how do you make your organization an inclusive event and how do you plan an inclusive event. There’s a session on how you turn your belief or opinion into an actionable item,” Farnor said.
The Equity and Inclusion Conference is a week away. For students who are interested, the event is free. As for staff and people around the region, you can register and get your tickets online at www.etsu.edu/equity/conference/ today and learn more about this special event. Come out and get involved with this life-changing opportunity that will help you change someone else’s life for the better.
“There’s a lot of energy and a lot of staff, our office and the president’s office that are putting energy and efforts around making campus a space that’s for everyone,” said Farnor. “You want people to leave and have one actionable thing that they can implement in a classroom or business that is going to make people’s lives better, if that happens then we did it right.”
