EDI and Anti-Racism Teach-In 2024

Join us for the 4th annual 2024 Anti-Racism and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Teach-in for Tulane faculty and staff! Please note you must register once for the entire EDI and Anti-Racism Teach-In, which will grant you access to each of the following sessions listed below. Register with the "Join Event Online" Zoom Event link. This is the only way you will receive a sign-on link. We are excited to come together as a community to learn and grow with one another. Tulane University and the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion strive to offer universally accessible programming. If you anticipate needing any type of reasonable accommodation to fully participate or have questions about event accessibility, please contact edioffice@tulane.edu. We will have closed captioning and ASL provided in each of the sessions. " 

The morning session begins with a land blessing from Dr. Judith Maxwell (Co-Chair of the TU Indigenous Faculty and Staff Affinity Group). The morning keynote panel explores how anti-Black racism and Indigenous erasure have influenced voting rights, literacy, and the law in Louisiana and the U.S., as well as we can follow the leadership of local community organizers to ground our anti-racism and EDI work in our beloved city of Bulbancha/New Orleans in these areas. Following this session, we explore the importance of knowing Tulane's racial history from its founding to the present. After, attendees can join a lively story-time session with Malaysia Walker-Henry reading children's books exploring race, gender, and their intersections.   

Our afternoon national keynote speaker is Clint Smith, author of How the Word is Passed. Clint explores "the legacy and narratives of slavery around different historical sites like old plantations where enslaved people worked, and offers a compelling, nuanced perspective on the history" in the U.S. After this afternoon keynote, there is a panel of students, staff, faculty, and alumni from a diverse group of racial, gender, religious, and other backgrounds who explore how to have courageous conversations about the history of racism, its intersections with other oppressive systems, and its impact on the present at Tulane and beyond - as well as how to address the ruptures that come with this work in order to advance our racial and other equity efforts at Tulane. In the final session of the day, faculty and staff can meet with Tulane’s ALAAMEA Faculty and Staff Affinity groups to build community, learn about affinity group initiatives, and identify next steps in their learning from the teach-in.  

Registrants will have an opportunity to view two documentaries before and after the teach-in (Anti-Racism Leadership at Tulane, produced by the EDI Office and the Anti-Racism Leadership 2021 Cohort and By Invitation Only by Rebecca Snedeker) are available throughout the year for viewing.  

 

Free book giveaways happen during each of the session:  

Morning sessions:  

• One Person, No Vote by Carol Anderson  
• Sensitive by Sarah Levine and Merhdokht Amini  
• Bodies are Cool by Tyler Feder  
• I am Jazz by Jazz Jennings  
     

Afternoon sessions:  

• How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith 

 Tulane University and the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion strive to offer universally accessible programming. If you anticipate needing any type of reasonable accommodation to fully participate or have questions about event accessibility, please contact edioffice@tulane.edu. We will have closed captioning and ASL provided in each of the sessions.  

 

8:30 am – 9:45 am 

Bulbancha Morning Keynote: Understanding the Historical and Present Contexts of Voting Rights, Literacy and the Law in Louisiana and the U.S. 

The morning keynote panel explores how anti-Black racism and Indigenous erasure have influenced voting rights, literacy, and the law in Louisiana and the U.S., as well as we can follow the leadership of local community organizers to ground our anti-racism and EDI work in our beloved city of Bulbancha/New Orleans in these areas. 

 

10:00 am – 11:15 am   

To Know Who We Are, We Must Know Our Past: Exploring Tulane’s Racial History  

This session explores the Tulane University History Project, a long-term effort to research, acknowledge and share Tulane’s racial history from its founding to the present. Dr.  Walker-McWilliams, Executive Director of the project, will discuss: the scope of the project; the broader context in which this work is happening; the relationship between anti-racism, EDI and historical inquiry; and how you can support the project.    

 

11:30 am – 11:50 am   

Drag Queen Story-Time with Malaysia  Walker-Henry

Join us for a meaningful and fun story-time session with incredible local drag queen, Malaysia, as she reads the following 3 children's books.  

• Sensitive by Sarah Levine and Merhdokht  Amini  
• Bodies are Cool by Tyler Feder  
• I am Jazz by Jazz Jennings  

 

12:00 pm – 1:15 pm   

National Keynote: Clint Smith, author of How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery across America  

Our understanding of Black American history has been incomplete for a long time. But “how you once told the story doesn’t have to be how you tell the story forever,” says Clint Smith. In his #1 New York Times bestseller How the Word Is Passed, Clint explores the legacy and narratives of slavery around different historical sites like old plantations where enslaved people worked, and offers a compelling, nuanced perspective on the history of this country. One of The NYT’s 10 Best Books of the Year, How the Word Is Passed was called “an extraordinary contribution to the way we understand ourselves” by the New York Times Book Review. In talks, Clint challenges us to reckon with our past “honestly, proactively, and precisely.” When we recognize the ecosystem of stories that influence our understanding of history, he says, we can better make sense of the world we live in today—and choose to build a better world for those who come after us.  

 

1:30 pm – 2:50 pm   

Navigating Ruptures and Restoration: Ensuring the Word of Racial Justice History and Change Efforts are Passed  

In this session, Tulane students, staff, faculty, and alumni discuss how the opportunities and challenges in using restorative and courageous conversations to build a more racially just campus and world. The first part of the session is a dialogue amongst students who discuss the work they have been doing as a collective to communicate EDI and anti-racism values to incoming student communities – as well as the support and courageous conversations needed in this work. The second part of the session is a response to the dialogue by staff and faculty working to build a more equitable Tulane community for all. 

 

3:00 – 4:00 pm  

ALAAMEA Faculty and Staff Affinity Groups  

The affinity group meetings are a meaningful part of the teach-in, where you can attend a faculty and staff affinity group of interest (you may attend more than one affinity group) to meet new and old friends, learn about affinity group activities and share input, and process the day's learning.  

 

Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Faculty and Staff Affinity Group  

Register here: https://tulane.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYpceCoqD4iGtTkZ513_MoFpTHGG0FLq8h6  

  

Black Faculty and Staff Affinity Group  

Register here: here: https://tulane.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYvceqtqzguGtcasEPZ_GsYi4i7SqI5IwnU  

  

Chinese Faculty and Staff Affinity Group  

Register here:    https://tulane.zoom.us/j/7375320622 

   

Faculty and Staff Living with Disabilities Affinity Group  

Register here: https://tulane.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rce-hrDgpHtxYhOwGPnZNljiMq52XQUlz   

   

Indigenous Faculty and Staff Affinity Group  

Register here: https://tulane.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJApcOCppj8tHtCUWk1D3vXD7QS3_L7Ki4j_   

   

Latine Faculty and Staff Affinity Group  

Register here: https://tulane.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYuf-uoqzspHd1kKKI1VSRD8lhSVXA87y0n   

   

LGBTQ+ Faculty and Staff Affinity Group  

Register here: https://tulane.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0ldOCtrDgtG9ZGzwXClB3jGM3s2PUfUkzc  

   

Middle Eastern Faculty and Staff Affinity Group  

Register here: https://tulane.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcpdOCprzgvEtCVkIEgVBK5O7mjLugRC0gc  

  

Multicultural Faculty and Staff Affinity Group  

Register here: https://tulane.zoom.us/j/95481867626

 

Tulane University Women’s Association  

Register here: https://tulanehipaa.zoom.us/j/95973920293   

   

White Antiracist Learning Community  

Register here:   

https://tulane.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAscOmgqjksGtb8FuMZMw9iG6FjwtVocnlW  

 

If you have any questions about the Anti-Racism and EDI Teach-In, please contact edioffice@tulane.edu.