Sarah Mead
Staff Writer
smead@murraystate.edu
Murray State is holding a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Virtual Symposium on Friday, Oct. 2.
The event will serve to educate students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of Murray’s community on issues related to race and ethnicity. The symposium begins at 9:30 a.m. with welcoming remarks by University officials. Aaron Thompson, president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, will begin his keynote address at 10 a.m. After lunch, two conversation panels will be available for public viewing at 1 p.m. and at 2:30 p.m.
The symposium will serve as a part of President Bob Jackson’s agenda to advance diversity and inclusion on campus.
“At Murray State University we value diversity, equity and inclusion and strive to have a community where our students feel welcome, safe and supported,” Jackson said in an email to students. “We have worked to promote these important tenets and realize that we still have more work to do.”
Subtitled “Grand Conversations,” the symposium is designed to endorse discussion. State and national leaders in education and diversity have been invited to speak at the symposium. Many of the panelists are alumni of Murray State, including current Regents Leon Owens and Don Tharpe. Students and faculty are invited to attend the two discussions to hear their advice on these topics.
Coordinated by Don Robertson, vice president of Student Affairs, and S.G. Carthell, executive director of Multicultural Initiatives, the symposium will provide students with a safe environment to engage in positive cross-cultural and cross-racial dialogue. The symposium is guided by Jackson and the University’s seven guiding principles to promote and celebrate diversity: champion inclusion, enhance opportunities, increase cultural opportunities, increase cultural competence, encourage involvement, understand history and endorse discussion.
The University is already planning for future diversity symposiums and is hoping to have the event available to an in-person audience next fall.
Students can register here to receive additional information on the virtual symposium and access to additional resources relative to diversity, equity and inclusion. The keynote and “Grand Conversations” will be livestreamed. The link for the livestream can also be found here.