Real Talk: A Diversity in Higher Ed Podcast

This week Diane and Shanté bring in Dr. Tekisha Dwan Everette to discuss healthcare access and utilization amongst minority communities, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed long-standing health inequities. Dr. Everette is the executive director of Health Equity Solutions, an organization that advocates for change through legislation and regulatory actions, and ensures that decision-makers are aware of key health equity priorities in Connecticut.

People are hurt. People are in trauma. We have two presidents and no idea when we will only have one.... COVID is spiking, families are in dire economic straits... so how are YOU doing?

Dr. Randolph Brooks is the Multicultural Programming and Outreach Coordinator in the Counseling Center at Southern Connecticut State University. His research focuses on increasing marginalized and underrepresented students’ utilization of mental and physical health care services.

As we round the corner on one of the most contentious political season of our times, many of us are left to wonder what's next. Dr. Jonathan Wharton helps us break down what's going on in the world and what to expect (and not expect) after election day.

Diane and Shante talk with two student activists, Jamil Harp and Elijah Ortiz, about the ongoing work to move past performance activism and into the realm of effecting systemic change, beginning at their own university.

The role of journalism as a non-partisan checkpoint has been largely called into question during the rise of social media and accusations of fake news, with conversations often curving back to the question of, “Who gets to own the truth?”

Professor Frank Harris, III, joins us this week to discuss how this criticism is affecting conversations on diversity, and the ability of news media to be seen as arbiters of objective truth. We'll also explore the role of higher education at this intersection and to best serve our students.

Professor Harris' Websites:

The n-Word in America

2019: The 400th

In 2020, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion officers are rapidly becoming the real MVPs at colleges and universities across America. As Southern Connecticut State University's first chief DEI strategist, Dr. Diane Ariza brings more than two decades’ experience of administrative leadership in social justice and a background of teaching and research in ethnic studies to address issues of documenting and amplifying equity, anti-racism, and anti-oppression work. Dr. Ariza holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Sociology with a concentration in ethnic and race relations, as well as a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology. Her bachelor’s degree is in history and Spanish.

A Southern alumna and CT's deputy commissioner of housing, Shante Hanks is a thought leader, educator, community advocate, political strategist and author. Her grassroots approach allows her to connect the dots between policy and the pulse of the community. Ms. Hanks has a Bachelor of Science in History and Secondary Education, Master of Science in Elementary Education, Sixth-Year Degree in Educational Foundations with a focus in Urban Studies & Curriculum, and is currently a doctoral student.