Outreach

Speaking at Student Events

AC students, I am open to being involved in events hosted by your student organizations in the following ways: being a speaker, being on a panel, moderating a discussion, or inviting speakers. Please make sure to ask me several weeks in advance. If you ask me before or after class, make sure to follow up with me as soon as possible when I am not distracted. In addition, once I agree make sure to send me a calendar invitation to the event and make clear what the expectations are. Below I list the types of events in which I have participated. Most of them have related to DEI broadly speaking in some way. 

What Do I Mean When I Say DEI

I have been involved in a variety of forms of outreach related to increasing knowledge about and building skills in inclusion and diversity. I do not shy away from using the term DEI. However, I want to be clear on what that means. 

When I use the term DEI, I mean efforts to recognize and learn about the varied experiences and histories that exist among and within groups and categories - particularly groups that may be marginalized or histories that may have been ignored in the past. I mean consciously trying to respect all people, not because we are all the same, but in spite of being different. I mean trying to be truthful about past harms done to certain groups and categories and trying to make sure we all take responsibility to ensure such things do not happen again.

There are many misconceptions about what DEI is. This document presents data to dispel misinformation about what DEI is and what it is used for.

To paraphrase Nikki Giovanni, we may not all be to blame, but we are all responsible. All of us in the United States are responsible for making sure that the United States lives up to its ideals that all people are valued equally and all should be able to live freely and pursue a meaningful life that brings them joy.

Student Development in Inclusion and Diversity

I have spoken at and conducted sessions for college students in a variety of contexts. I have done some of them with colleagues, Jeremy Posadas and Renee Countryman.

• Pakistani Flood Relief Panel, Austin College – Muslim Student Association event, Thursday, September 23, 2010

• Until the Violence Stops (a documentary about Eve Ensler and the V-Day movement) Austin College question-and-answer session panel member with Megan McCullough, Jeremy Posadas, and Rose Rothmeier, Thursday, February 9th, 2012

• Floozapalooza, one of four presenters for the Austin College Xi Epsilon “Slut Walk” event, Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

• Help Now, Help Later: The Value of Volunteering, Non-Profit Volunteer Fair, Austin College, Sherman, Texas, Wednesday, September 12, 2012

• Floozapalooza, one of three panel members discussing documentary Roe at Risk by Alliance for Justice for the Austin College Xi Epsilon event, Thursday, April 24th, 2014

• Panelist at College Night at the Movies: A Special Screening of Dear White People, hosted by Paul Quinn College, Angelika Film Center, Wednesday, October 22, 2014

• Do Black and Latino Lives Matter?, member of faculty panel helping to lead the discussion for the Austin College Black Expressions event, Wednesday, April 8th, 2015

• Floozapalooza, speaker and panel member discussing Title IX and Sexual Assault on Campus for the Austin College Xi Epsilon event, Tuesday, April 14th, 2015

• Who Gets the Benefit of the Doubt?, Say Their Names Candlelight Vigil for Black History Month, sponsored by Black Expressions, Monday, February, 8, 2016

• Panelist at Dismantling Islamophobia Panel, sponsored by Austin College Muslim Students’ Association, Wednesday, February 8, 2017

• Moderator of Black Expressions Meeting with Republican Party Members, Austin College, Monday, November 27, 2017

• Gender Sexuality Alliance panel on safer sex with Jeremy Posadas and Renee Countryman, Thursday, September 27, 2018

• Moderator of Black Expressions hosts Republican Q & A, Austin College, Monday, October 29, 2018

• Seek More Than Twitter Justice, speech at Tostan Dinner and Auction, sponsored by Austin College Service Station, Tuesday, February 26, 2019

• Moderator of Q&A for Women in Leadership discussion with Lisa Leslie via Zoom, Austin College, October 22, 2020

• Co-host of Student Leader Retreat with Jeremy Posadas, February 7, 2021, Austin College

• Moderator of This is Us: Diverse and United! Opening of School program, Austin College, August 22, 2021

• Gender Sexuality Alliance Aro-Ace (i.e., Aromantic-Asexual) panel, Wednesday, October 27, 2021

• Gender Sexuality Alliance and CHAMPS Safer Sex panel with Jeremy Posadas, Tuesday, April 26, 2022

• Moderator of This is Us: Diverse and United! Opening of School program, Austin College, August 21, 2022

• Gender Sexuality Alliance safer sex and myths talk, Thursday, May 4, 2023

• Moderator of Leadership in the Arts discussion with Michelle Browder, Austin College, Thursday, September 21, 2023

• Be the Change You Wish to See in the World, speech at Tostan Dinner and Auction, sponsored by Austin College Service Station, Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Media Write Ups

Below are times I have been asked by the media to comment on something or have been involved in something of note related to DEI broadly speaking.

• Boosting diversity on campus, Monitor on Psychology, September 2004

• Brown honored at conference, @AC, April, 2013

• Cowboys fans react to the addition of Michael Sam to team, KTEN, September 4, 2014

• AC announces campus task force for inclusion, diversity, Herald Democrat, January 19, 2016

• Austin College professor explores bias, racism at TEDx conference, Herald Democrat, September 30, 2016

• What did we learn from the Denison kidnapping, rape hoax?, Herald Democrat, April 2, 2017

• How Harvard picks its presidents, Harvard Crimson, September 9, 2022

• Harvard students, community members rally in support of affirmative action, Boston Globe, July 1, 2023