Follow up inclusion conversation to be held in April
Central Michigan University students, faculty, community members and staff asked university president George Ross (middle) questions about diversity and inclusion at noon on Friday, Dec. 4 in Plachta Auditorium. The panel included junior Justin Toliver (from left to right), junior Rebecca Detroyer, Ross, Heather Syrette of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indian Tribe and CMU NAACP chapter president junior Angela Hill.
Dean of the College of Education and Human Services Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson wants to keep the conversation about inclusion going on campus.
Walking Together: A conversation on inclusion and our community will take place from 11 a.m. to noon on April 8 in the Charles V. Park Library Auditorium.
The event is meant to continue the conversation led by President George Ross in December, specifically focusing on topics of diversity and inclusion in curriculum, inclusion on campus and race relations on campus regarding Black Lives Matter movement. The event will also address funding and how it impacts underrepresented groups on Central Michigan University's campus.
Panel Members so far include Pehrsson, President Ross, Associate Vice President of Institutional Diversity Carolyn Dunn, Director of Diversity Education Sapphire Cureg, Political Science and Public Administration Professor Cherie Strachan, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership Matt Johnson, Associate Professor of Special Education Andrea Jasper and Associate Professor of Counselor Education Terry McGlasson.
"(The first panel in December) was a good beginning, but I would like this to happen more often," Pehrsson said. "I want to keep the conversation moving."
Ross wanted to make sure who was in charge of planning and leading the forums moved around in leadership, she said.
"I jumped at the opportunity," Pehrsson said. "I want to hear concerns from students."
Students to be on the panel are still in the process of being identified, she said. Pehrsson plans on looking to the Student Government Association as the first place to identify students for the forum with specific expertise in some of the areas the conversation will be focused on.
Main topics were chosen by looking at the main concerns students brought up in the last conversation, she said.
