A public lecture on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion will be presented by the York University Faculty Association (YUFA) Race Equity Caucus on Friday, Nov. 2 from 2 to 4:30 p.m., and will feature guest speaker Zoila Airall.
The talk, titled “Paradox: The Art of Thinking Independently Together to Advance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” will take place at Room 152, Founders College, Keele Campus. Airall is the associate vice-president for campus life in Student Affairs at Duke University.
Airall is a passionate social justice advocate, and will address ways to diversify institutions of higher education. She will draw from her experience as the chief diversity officer on the academic side of the institution, and experience now as a student services leader, to discuss the importance of mission, strategy and commitment from the top to meet the goal of diversity, inclusion and equity. She will also discuss the challenges that she has personally encountered and learned from, so that other institutions can learn from it.
The lecture promises to be a key event in informing decolonization, race equity and diversity work at York University.
The event will also feature responses from Nicole Penak , lecturer, School of Social Work and YUFA Indigenous Caucus representative; and Andil Gosine , associate professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies.
The York University community is invited to attend, including administrators, students, faculty, staff. All are welcome.
The event is organized by YUFA Race Equity Caucus, represented by Professor Tania Das Gupta, Department of Equity Studies, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies.