{"id":9380,"date":"2021-03-07T19:11:25","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T00:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/?p=9380"},"modified":"2021-03-07T19:11:47","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T00:11:47","slug":"inaugural-leading-edj-day-one-small-step-on-that-journey-of-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/inaugural-leading-edj-day-one-small-step-on-that-journey-of-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Inaugural Leading EDJ Day: One Small Step on that Journey of Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tia

Tia McNair, Ed.D., vice president in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and executive director for the Truth, Racial Healing, \u00a0\u2028and Transformation Campus Centers at the Association of American Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C., delivered the conference\u2019s keynote address, \u201cTruth, Healing, and Transformation: From Equity Talk to Equity Walk.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

More than 550 students, faculty, staff, alumnae\/i, and trustees joined together to explore themes of race and racial justice during Hollins\u2019 first annual Leading Equity, Diversity, and Justice (EDJ) Day on October 23.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Classes were canceled and administrative offices were closed to foster full engagement in the day\u2019s program, which featured 35 in-person and online sessions presented by members of the university community and invited guest speakers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLeading EDJ is the result of an awesome collaboration among folks from across our campus,\u201d Professor of Anthropology and Gender and Women\u2019s Studies and Director of Faculty Development LeeRay Costa said in her opening remarks. \u201cWhat began as an idea for advancing critical conversations around inclusion, identity, and equity on our campus became today\u2019s event in the span of just 42 days.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"LeeRay

Costa<\/p><\/div>\n

Costa added that Hollins, like other colleges and universities around the country, reacted to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the reinvigoration of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer \u201cwith a statement of solidarity and shared anguish over the suffering of our fellow human beings, and a promise to do more. And like so many other institutions, Hollins was called out by some for being generous with our words but repeatedly failing to live those words in ways that have meaningful difference to marginalized and underserved members of our community.\u201d She explained that Hollins still needs to come to terms with its own history of racial injustice, including the use of enslaved people to support the institution and its mission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo say that Hollins University was built on the backs of Black and Brown people is not hyperbole, nor is it meant to incite,\u201d Costa said. \u201cIt is merely to tell the truth.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In her welcome, Hollins President Mary Dana Hinton paid tribute to Costa and the committee of campus community members that brought the concept of Leading EDJ Day to reality. \u201cA different group might have said, \u2018Let\u2019s wait until it\u2019s easier. Let\u2019s look away. Let\u2019s not do our part; perhaps someone else will do it for us.\u2019 But this group, this committee for whom I am so very grateful, looked at one another and said, \u2018Let\u2019s do this.\u2019 We did it because our students and this institution that we love so dearly needed us to. Because we all deserve more. We all deserve better.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mary

Hinton<\/p><\/div>\n

Hinton also praised the more than 40 Hollins students who planned and presented sessions during the day that \u201ccome from a place of care, a desire to belong, a need to be seen and appreciated for their experiences, both good and bad. Our students genuinely believe they can make us better, and we them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Makda Kalayu \u201923 co-led the presentation \u201cCaring for Your Neighbors: Promoting Beloved Community,\u201d along with Kiah Patterson \u201923 and Tyler Sesker \u201922. The session featured an exercise to encourage attendees to identify their own implicit biases, followed by a discussion on identifying and breaking down stereotypes of Black people that impact those biases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great space to have these difficult conversations,\u201d Kalayu reflected. \u201cA mix between faculty, staff, and alumnae\/i diversified the discussion and encouraged people to talk. And [it] also helped to direct the conversation in a really interesting way. Everyone was super respectful. A lot of [participants] came in with an eagerness to learn about the topic.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe New Vanguard: Pushing the Envelope in Revolutionary Discourse,\u201d moderated by Leah Coltrane \u201922 and Amy Duncan \u201921, explored ways of not only transforming one\u2019s own community, but also the way one interacts with their community and themselves on a daily basis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Diversity

Diversity Monologue Troupe<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe carry a lot of trauma, and making space to take care of those things is important,\u201d Coltrane told attendees. \u201cIf you\u2019re not taking care of your spiritual self while trying to learn, trying to do this work, you will not be successful.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tia McNair, Ed.D., vice president in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and executive director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Centers at the Association of American Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C., delivered the conference\u2019s keynote address, \u201cTruth, Healing, and Transformation: From Equity Talk to Equity Walk.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

McNair encouraged attendees \u201cto figure out the kind of institution you\u2019re going to be, and stay true to that in all areas as we clarify our actions. To be equity-minded is a mode of thinking exhibited by practitioners who are willing to assess their own racialized assumptions, to acknowledge their lack of knowledge in the history of race and racism, to take responsibility for the success of historically underserved and minoritized student groups, and to not only build their knowledge about race and racism, but also to critically assess racialization in our own practices as educators and administrators.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Black

Black Lives Matter artwork outside the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum<\/p><\/div>\n

Costa emphasized that the first Leading EDJ Day \u201cis just one small step on that journey of transformation to becoming a more equitable and just university, workplace, and, in the words of [feminist theorist, cultural critic, artist, and writer] bell hooks, a \u2018home place.\u2019 A place where every single one of us feels like we belong. It\u2019s an opportunity for truth-telling, for listening with our defenses down and our hearts and minds open, and for learning new ways of being together across our differences.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stressing Hollins\u2019 \u201cunique responsibility to create an environment wherein each person feels and is loved as they are,\u201d Hinton expressed the university\u2019s obligation as a liberal arts institution \u201cto explore, to know, to honor, and to hold with care the experiences of those around us. To engage multiple perspectives that challenge our own. To open and free our minds to engage with ideas, concepts, people, and experiences that challenge us. That force us to think critically and creatively. That demand we solve the complex problems of the day in conversation with others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Talmadge

Talmadge Recital Hall hosted \u201cThe Legacy of Slavery at Hollins\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe liberal arts demand this work of leading equity, diversity, and justice. Indeed, today reflects the meaning and purpose of education and our collective responsibility and mutual accountability to all those we encounter.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Babcock

Local resident Jordan Bell presented \u201cBlack History of Roanoke\u201d in Babcock Auditorium<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Drumming

Drumming Circle for the Ancestors<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Photos by Sharon Meador and Billy Faires<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 550 students, faculty, staff, alumnae\/i, and trustees joined together to explore themes of race and racial justice during Hollins\u2019 first annual Leading Equity, Diversity, and Justice (EDJ) Day on October 23.\u00a0 Classes were canceled and administrative offices were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":9390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9380"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9382,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9380\/revisions\/9382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.糖心传媒.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}