The event will be held virtually
Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato 46and Dr. Michael T. Fagin’s Annual Pan-African Conferencewhich will be held virtually Wednesday-Friday, February 23-25, will feature presentations by state and national education officials on the theme, “Closing the Equity Gap in Education: Moving Beyond the conversation towards identifying best practices!”
The conference is open to the public, higher education professionals and students, K-12 educators, and parents. According to a summary of the conference theme, “The 2022 conference proposes that educators move beyond discussion of the education equity gap, focus on the question of how cultures and school curricula marginalize students of color, identify best practices that allow us to better serve our students of color, and think of innovative ways to move the needle forward and reinvent the world of education.
The public registration cost is $75 ($50 for non-Minnesota State Mankato students). Discounted group registration is available. Registration is free for Minnesota State Mankato students and employees. Full registration information for the February 23-25 virtual conference is available at www.mnsu.edu/panafricanconference.
The speakers, in the order of their presentations, are listed below. Full speaker information is available here.
The first guest speaker, Andriel Dees, is to present Thursday, February 24 from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Dees currently serves as Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion for the Minnesota State System, providing system-wide strategy oversight responsibilities to support diversity, equity and inclusion. . Dees holds a JD from William Mitchell College of Law and a BA in English from Hampton University.
Speaking Thursday February 24 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. will be Tia Brown McNair, vice president for diversity, equity and student success for the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Brown McNair is vice president of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and executive director of the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) campus centers of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, D.C.
Express yourself in a lively discussion Thursday February 24 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. will be Alan C. Page, retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Minnesota. Page is the first African American from Minnesota to serve on the court and one of the few associate justices to have joined the court initially by election, rather than appointment by the governor.
Speaking Friday, February 25 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. will be Stephanie Burrage, Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education. Burrage works closely with Commissioner Heather Mueller to promote education policies and initiatives focused on closing the achievement gap, supporting high-quality teaching, using innovative strategies to improving academic outcomes and ensuring that all scholars graduate from high school well-prepared for college, career, and life.
Lead a workshop Friday February 25 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. will be Andratesha Fritzgerald, founder of Building Blocks of Brilliance Education. Fritzgerald is the author of “Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning: Building Expressways to Success” (CAST, 2020), winner of a Benjamin Franklin Award from the Independent Book Publishers Association.
Speaking Friday, February 25 between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. during the conference closing ceremony, J. Luke Wood, Dean of Education Distinguished Professor and Vice President of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity at San Diego State University. He is co-director of the Community College Equity Assessment Lab (CCEAL), a national center for research and practice that partners with community colleges to support their ability to advance outcomes for students of color.
(NOTE TO EDITORS: Media interested in covering the conference may contact Kenneth A. Reid, Director of African American and Multicultural Affairs at Minnesota State Mankato, by phone at 507-389-6207 or by email at [email protected].)
The co-chairs of the Pan-African Conference 2022 are Reid and Angela Titi Amayah. Titi Amayah’s research focuses primarily on leaders and their roles in preparing for change. Her other areas of interest include the experiences of women leaders in various cultures.
The Pan-African Conference is committed to developing and enhancing the leadership skills of college-aged Black young adults, as well as providing opportunities for scholars, professionals, and community members to discuss issues that affect African descendants at local, national and international levels.
Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 14,546 students, is part of the Minnesota State System, which includes 30 colleges and seven universities.
