Breaking Free Cultivating Conditions for Liberation

Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professorship

Schedule of Events

Tuesday, March 7

11:00 a.m. Film Screening and Discussion

Tivoli Turnhalle

900 Auraria Parkway

Denver, CO 80204

Wednesday, March 8

9:30 a.m. Film Screening and Discussion

12:30 p.m. Lunch and Keynote with Dr. Butler

Tivoli Turnhalle

900 Auraria Parkway Denver, CO 80204

5:30 p.m. Community Presentation and Awards

Shorter Community AME Church

3100 Richard Allen Court Denver, CO 80205

Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professorship

The Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professorship was initiated in 1981 to foster multiculturalism, diversity, and academic excellence at Metropolitan State University of Denver. The professorship brings renowned scholars and artists of distinction to MSU Denver to conduct classes, seminars, performances, and lectures for students, faculty, and the larger Denver community. MSU Denver has hosted numerous luminaries and highlighted each professor’s unique background and experiences to the campus and broader community.

2023 Noel Professor

Shakti Butler, Ph.D., is a visionary filmmaker, transformative learning educator, and Founder and President Emeritus of World Trust Educational Services, Inc., a nonprofit transformative educational organization whose films, curricula, workshops, and programs are catalysts for institutional, structural, and cultural change.

Rooted in love and justice, her interactive presentations serve as a catalyst for transformative learning about systemic inequity. Through multimedia, dialogue, case studies, and other participatory methods, Shakti supports participants to reframe and deepen the national conversation on race, foster collective engagement, and build leadership skills that can illuminate pathways towards healing, equity and a more sustainable future.

In a rapidly growing city, the housing market can quickly become expensive and out of reach for many, even pushing some completely out of the picture. Forty years ago, Getabetcha Mekonnen (Gete) had the foresight about the growing desirability of Denver’s Northeast corridor and made it his mission to create and provide housing opportunities that were affordable and sustainable for marginalized individuals and families in this region.