RSA US September Salon | Residential Higher Education in a Time of Heightened Racial Injustice Awareness + Covid-19 (0900 PDT | 1200 EDT | 1700 BST)

Two senior higher education leaders will reflect on advancing racial equity initiatives, while balancing the response to a global pandemic in a residential setting.

The residential higher education experience is typically designed to challenge students to expand their academic horizons, and their conceptions of society as a whole. Racial equity initiatives continue to proliferate and expand across the higher education landscape as the country continues to reckon with centuries of intractable racism. As we are all aware, a global pandemic is hampering the efforts of residential higher education communities to provide a robust in situ experience. So how are racial equity initiatives and the need to ensure public health being balanced by the decision makers at our nation’s colleges and universities?

Two senior higher education leaders - a chief academic officer, and chief diversity officer - will share the challenges they are facing with this balancing act, and what they are seeing within the higher education landscape broadly. Those leaders are:

• Jennifer McCary, CDP, is the Chief Diversity and Belonging Officer at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. A former Associate Dean/Title IX Coordinator and Director of the Women’s Center at Gettysburg College (Penn.), Jennifer returned to her alma mater in 2018 and was promoted into her current role in 2019.
• Gregor Thuswaldner, PhD FRSA, is the Provost and Executive Vice President at Whitworth University in Washington (state). Gregor attained full Professorship, in German and Linguistics, at Gordon College (Mass.), and most recently served as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at North Park University (Illi.).

This event is taking place on Thursday, September 17th 2020 between:

• 9 - 10am PDT
• Noon - 1pm EDT

RSA US Virtual Salons typically occur on the third Thursday of each month; they aim to create open dialogue and a space for RSA US Fellows to connect across geography over the issues of our times. Join a Salon to get to know other RSA US Fellows and our interests, passions, and perspectives. Salons are supported through the moderation of a volunteer to ensure that a diversity of voices are heard. We invite all Fellows to join this discussion to deepen the ways we can connect with each other across the country!

To access the log-in details to join this free event, please register in advance. Zoom information will be shared 48 hours, 2 hours, and 10 minutes prior to the event start time.