Real Talk: A Diversity in Higher Ed Podcast

Jamil and KC talk with Ines Reardon and Peter Dimoulas from the Bioscience Academic and Career Pathway (BioPath) about their community efforts to increase students of color entering STEM fields through mentorship, job opportunities, and specialized classes. They are joined by Lionel Meda (Pfizer) and Legairre Radden (Boehringer Ingelheim), who talk about their career growth, educational journeys, barriers to success, and the need for more black scientists.

Post-Graduation Blues: Finding Your Path. KC and Jamil talk about common anxieties that surround graduating from college with guest Michael King. Together they address feelings of hopelessness, worries about not finding employment, societal pressures, and ways to overcome these troubles. Michael King is a storyteller, educator, and a campus advisor for the JED Foundation, a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation's teens and young adults.

KC and Jamil talk about the power of using friendship to fuel activism. They are joined by Tony Ferraiolo and Dru Levasseur, who share the story of their friendship, which allowed their co-founding of the Jim Collins Foundation and has supported them through struggles with burn out so many of us face. Tony and Dru’s dedication to uplifting the trans community will inspire anyone to create light even in the darkest places.

Dru is currently the director of DEI for the National LGBTQ+ Bar, and previously directed Lambda Legal's Transgender Rights Project for ten years. He has served as counsel in landmark impact litigation cases and amicus briefs in federal courts, including the Supreme Court, and is a national and international spokesperson who has appeared in dozens of media outlets. Tony is the Director of Health Care Advocates International’s Youth and Family Program, a long-time life coach, trainer, speaker, and facilitator of youth and family support groups. Tony is the subject of the award-winning documentary “A Self-Made Man” and the author of the book series Artistic Expressions of Transgender Youth.

KC and Jamil give their unsolicited advice to some questions circulating around social media about higher ed. Sit back, relax and enjoy their banter!

In this episode we discuss the rise in anti-LGBTQIA+ and anti-CRT bills regarding K-12 education and how to prepare future educators on politics of curriculum. Dr. Roni Jo Draper, lifelong educator, joins Jamil and KC to to talk about how to create classroom spaces so all students will thrive, including rethinking teaching practices in mathematics. Dr. Draper was a math and science teacher before she became a professor in the School of Education at Brigham Young University. She recently retired from BYU as a full professor. She is the president of the board of the ACLU of Utah, active with PFLAG, a co-founder of WeExist.lgbt, and, most recently, a filmmaker.

Jamil and KC are joined by Dr. Antija Allen and Justin Stewart, co-editors and authors to talk about their forthcoming book We're Not Okay: Black Faculty Experiences and Higher Education Strategies.

Check them out here! https://linktr.ee/notokbookproject

KC and Jamil highlight university counseling services and discuss cultural barriers to mental health care in Black and Latinx communities, debunk common myths about counseling, and talk about how to approach healing as a community with guests Dr. Randolph Brooks, Multicultural Programming and Outreach Coordinator, and Stephanie Perez, MS, LPC, NCC, assistant counselor, both at Southern Connecticut State University.

KC and Jamil begin to discuss mental health on university campuses and how to take care of ourselves along with our communities featuring guest Micah Wolf.

KC and Jamil discuss the complexities of being disabled in higher education by virtue of identity, visible and invisible disabilities, accessibility, and perceptions, featuring guests Sarah Rizzuto and Aura Fortier.

You can listen to/read some of Aura's work here: The Illusive Men (https://youtube.com/channel/UCEqnBYms--G9c5uXPQdPItg), Recusant’s Sigil (https://youtube.com/channel/UCjMoinzM5Eoo0G2loLA5Vyw), and Forever Intertwined (https://www.amazon.com/Forever-Intertwined-Aura-Fortier-ebook/dp/B08HQZZG6P/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=9781098322496&qid=1601916276&sr=8-1)

KC and Jamil discuss the Divine Nine, particularly highlighting the legacy of historically Black sororities and their importance on predominantly white campuses. They are joined by Dr. Audrey Kerr, professor of African American literature, and Tishana Williams, president of the Sigma Gamma chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho, Inc.