The URGENCY of DIVERSE LEADERSHIP
Program
All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time.
Thursday, June 17 (open to LGBTQ Presidents only)
1:45–2 PM
Welcome to the LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education June membership and board meeting
2–3:30 PM
Program for LGBTQ Presidents: Unlearning & Relearning: Engaging Across Difference and the Reality of White Fragility (Kent Porterfield, vice provost of student affairs, Gonzaga University, introduced by Charlita Shelton, chief of staff, Gonzaga University) All currently serving and retired members of LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education are invited to sign up for this advanced continuing education opportunity. As we struggle as leaders to further goals of racial and social justice in the United States and Canada, our campus leaders will have the opportunity to confront the difficult realities we face when trying to lead change.
3:45–5 PM
Board Meeting (Erika Endrijonas & Richard Helldobler, co-chairs; Elizabeth Hillman, secretary; Richard Senese, treasurer; Rusty Barceló & Charlita Shelton, members at large; Terry Allison, executive director; Jeremy Flanigan, media & communication assistant)
The Board will meet to consider bylaw changes and to launch the member voting process for additional board member(s).
5:15–6:45 PM
Informal chat hosted by the co-chairs, Endrijonas & Helldobler
Friday, June 18 (open to all registrants)
11:15–11:45 AM
Welcome to the Institute (Erika Endrijonas, superintendent/president, Pasadena City College & co-chair, LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education; introduction to “The Urgency of Diverse Leadership,” Terry Allison, executive director; video from host member organization, Richard Helldobler, president, William Paterson University & co-chair, LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education)
12–1:15 PM
LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education (Ray Crossman, chair, president, Adler University; Jim Gandre, president, Manhattan School of Music; Theo Kalikow, president emerita, University of Maine, Farmington; Daniel López, president, Harold Washington College; Regina Stanback Stroud, CEO, RSS Consulting)
A panel based on the forthcoming book, LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education, from Johns Hopkins University Press, which explores the leadership issues faced by the first generation of out LGBTQ presidents and chancellors in the United States. Panelists will discuss a variety of issues, including the search process, feminism, social and racial equality, homophobia, partners and spouses, and HIV status.
1:30–2:45 PM
Beyond COVID-19: Planning for Disruption (Brenda Phillips, chair & co-author; respondents: Richard Senese, president, Capella University; Marge Connelly, chair, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; Chicora Martin, VP of student life & dean of students, Mills College; Barbara Russo, director, graduate program in emergency management, Brevard College)
Although we may wish to leave disasters like COVID-19 behind us, the reality is that we will continue to face more events in higher education: wildfires, floods, cyberattacks, earthquakes, protests, and active attackers. As we move forward—with new insights and emergency leadership skill sets—what do we need to think about and act on to increase the resilience of our respective institutions? This panel explores those issues and offers sage, informed advice on leading practices for business continuity. Panelists will prepare a resource list for attendees as a key takeaway that addresses the urgency of diverse leadership, this conference’s theme.
3–4 PM
Mentoring Sessions (led by Richard Helldobler, president, William Paterson University)
2021 Leadership Institute participants may sign up for individualized 30-minute sessions with members of LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education based on interests in leadership growth and career background.
5–6:30 PM
Informal chat, coffee, tea, or cocktail hour (led by executive director Terry Allison)
Participants can join informal breakout room groups to get to know LGBTQ Presidents & Leaders during informal sessions hosted by at least one LGBTQ member president, chancellor, or CEO.
Saturday, June 19 (open to all registrants)
11:30 AM–1 PM
Leading Through Two Pandemics: A Racial Divide and COVID-19 (Christina Royal, chair, president, Holyoke Community College; Merrill Irving, Jr., president, Hennepin Technical College; Charlita Shelton, chief of staff, Gonzaga University; Isaac W. K. Thweatt, associate dean, development, School of the Arts, Emerson College)
This panel will explore the challenges of African American leadership as the United States grapples with the twin pandemics of racial and social injustice and the COVID-19 pandemic as well as where these pandemics intersect.
1:15–2:45 PM
Trans* Leadership in Higher Education: Challenges and Change (Terry Allison, chair, executive director, LGBTQ Presidents & Leaders; Luca Lewis, vice president for student services, Whatcom Community College; New Hampshire State Representative Gerri Cannon; Aaron Devor, chair in transgender studies & professor, University of Victoria, British Columbia; Marisa Richmond, professor of women’s and gender studies, Middle Tennessee State University)
This panel will feature trans* leadership in higher education in the United States and Canada, focusing on the institutional challenges and obstacles for emerging leaders as well as strategies to overcome them.
3–4 PM
Conversation with the Honorable Ritchie Torres, U.S. Representative of New York’s 15th Congressional District & Eddie Summers, president, The Thinkubator
Newly elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020 at the age of 32 to represent the South Bronx and parts of the West Bronx, Rep. Ritchie Torres will speak with LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education member Eddie Summers about pressing national issues of racial and social justice and equity that challenge today’s students and families in higher education.
4–4:15 PM
LGBTQ Presidents co-chairs Erika Endrijonas & Richard Helldobler thanks, please evaluate, upcoming work of LGBTQ Presidents & Leaders
Thank you to our sponsors of the ’21 LGBTQ Leadership Institute!
