Sharing Insights on Equity and Inclusion

Collaborative. Transformative. Gratifying.

That’s how three Smithies described their recent experience at a national anti-racism conference.

Dianie Chen ’24, Genevieve Torrence ’24 and Rhys Zyraxes Vulpe ’23 were presenters at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education held May 30–June 3 in New Orleans. They were invited to talk about Smith’s LEAD Corps program, a new student-led framework for fostering a more equitable and inclusive campus.

LEAD, short for Leaders for Equity-Centered and Action-Based Design, is a collaboration between Smith’s Wurtele Center for Leadership and the Office for Equity and Inclusion. Students who apply to the year-long program study social justice education, leadership and human-centered design, and are then offered a chance to put those concepts into practice as members of LEAD Corps—the action arm of the program.

Chen, a psychology and sociology major and a member of the Smith rowing team, says she was inspired to apply to LEAD after taking a class on leadership at the Wurtele Center. For Torrence, who is majoring in biological sciences, the program was a way to become more involved in changing campus culture at Smith. Vulpe, who earned his Smith degree in computer science, saw LEAD as an avenue for cultivating more discussion and collaboration among people from different Smith communities.

In addition to sharing their personal experiences, the trio led an exercise based on a scenario involving Sky, a student athlete who is worried about being isolated as the only person of color on a college ice hockey team: “If you were a team captain, what might you do to address Sky’s concerns?” they asked conference participants.

LEAD Corps member Megan McKenzie ’23 contributed to the group’s presentation, and the three Smithies were joined at the conference by LEAD program Co-Directors Annie DelBusto Cohen of the Wurtele Center, and Tobias Davis of the Office for Inclusion and Equity. Associate Professor Loretta Ross was also a conference presenter.

Here’s what Chen, Torrence and Vulpe had to say about their experience at the gathering in New Orleans.

What did it feel like to be part of a national conference focused on diversity, equity and inclusion?

Dianie Chen ’24: “The biggest emotion I felt was gratitude. In the introduction to the keynote speaker, they asked all the students in the room to stand up so they could congratulate and celebrate us. I looked around and I counted maybe 30 students in a conference of over 5,000 people. That was a visual that stuck with me. Just to be able to be in those workshops and present the work we are doing made it feel special.”

Genevieve Torrence ’24: “It was great to be around so many educators and other people who have been working on race, education and DEI. Connecting with them through the sessions, I felt like I was getting a lot of insights I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else. One session I went to was about skills for facilitating difficult conversations. There were people in the breakout groups who work mediating between college administrators and students. Hearing about how they are grappling with institutions that have very rigid ways of doing things and the different student needs and demands led to some interesting insights.”

Rhys Zyraxes Vulpe ’23: “My personal takeaway as someone who is moving on from Smith is how necessary it is for me to continue sharing space with folks in diversity and inclusion circles and to take part in these conversations.  I’m figuring out how to keep asking the types of questions I have been asking myself and the people around me since I was born. Having the space to process those questions and to share is important.”

How did participants react to your presentation about Smith’s LEAD program?

Vulpe: “I usually go into an immediate crash after a presentation, but this time I felt I had the capacity to keep interacting. The Q&A we held after our presentation turned into a group discussion where people were sharing their experiences. It was nice to see them making the workshop their own.”

Chen: “We didn’t feel like they were talking to us as students, but like they were treating us as equals. We exchanged thoughts about the future of our program and the futures for their programs.”

Torrence: “We had an interactive portion where we tried to get the audience to step into the shoes of a college student that we would be facilitating for. That was the most memorable because the conversation was so lively. As educators, the participants extrapolated way beyond the exercise to talk about the systems behind what the student was facing.”

Across the country, DEI programs in K-12 and higher education are under attack by legislatures and others. Was that issue addressed at the conference?

Torrence: “It definitely came up during the keynote sessions. People felt like being in community with other people doing DEI work is especially important right now. In her speech, Linda Sarsour [activist and co-chair of the 2017 and 2019 Women’s March] told us that having these conversations is great and having safe spaces for them is great, but we need to go out now and support the organizations we care about. Right now is the time to act.”

Chen: “[Sarsour] also talked about how academia, and the language we have come up with for DEI work in academia is great; words have power. But she also said that if her mother, who is an immigrant, has no idea what we are talking about, then we’re not doing this work right. So, I’m thinking a lot about spaces outside of academia. This work continues even after you graduate from academic spaces.”

How will you use what you learned at the conference? What are some next steps?

Vulpe: “The keynote speakers and workshops heavily emphasized that what we prioritize is important. So, I need to figure out how to keep engaging in this work. My immediate next steps are possibly writing something from what’s in my notebooks. One concrete next step I’m taking is reaching out to local Indigenous groups in Rhode Island, where I’m living, to see if they need any volunteers.“

Torrence: “I have the pleasure of doing LEAD work all summer. I’m really excited to keep planning things with LEAD. We’re looking at doing some work with the student leadership conference in the fall and I’m excited to connect with Residence Life and student leaders on campus.”

Chen: “I’m also working this summer with LEAD and I’m also super excited to be doing more projects. We’re in the first year of the Corps, so we’re picking up steam and figuring out how to collaborate with each other. Sometimes doing this work feels like we’re running in circles—doing things individually. So, the magnitude and the effect of our work feels less than it could be. This is part of why I like LEAD because it’s a collaboration between the two centers and other people on campus.”

Additional information about Smith’s LEAD program is available online and by emailing leadcorps@smith.edu.

From left, Genevieve Torrence ’24, Rhys Vulpe ’23 and Dianie Chen ’24 at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education