As the nation grappled with the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans this spring, many in the College of Engineering and Applied Science community began advocating for resources to better understand and confront systemic racism.
Director of Inclusive Culture Amy Moreno immediately thought of the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE), a program of the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies at the University of Oklahoma.
“For me, I was thinking of spaces of learning, validation and support as we are navigating a social movement,” she said. “NCORE provides such an open, accessible and inclusive environment that really recognizes the vastness of diversity while building knowledge, skills, connections and actions.”
With the support of interim Dean Keith Molenaar, the college was able to fund 14 graduate students, faculty and staff to attend the virtual conference in late June.
While Moreno intends to hold action planning sessions with attendees, we asked them to share some reflections on their experience. Here are some of their thoughtful responses.