OURRoundtableINTERESTSCOMPELLINGTuesday,September13,2022Discussion-2:30-4:00p.m.Reception-4:00-5:00p.m.UCLACampus,FacultyClubJoinviaZoom
Q & A
ALISON
NANCY CANTOR Chancellor of Rutgers University - Newark Closing Remarks
WelcomingPROGRAMRemarks&ShortVideo
Professor of Education and Associate Vice Chancellor, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion University of California, Los Angeles Roundtable Discussion
Distinguished Research Professor Education, Political Science, Urban Planning and Law Co Director, Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles University of California, Los Angeles
GARY ORFIELD
YOSHIMOTO-TOWERY Executive Director UC-CSU CA Collaborative For Neurodiversity and Learning University of California, Los Angeles
AUDREY DOW Senior Vice President Campaign for College Opportunity
Thomas C. Holt Distinguished University Professor Director and Founder, Center for Social Solutions University of Michigan
MAYRA LARA Associate Director of Educator Engagement The Education Trust - West
STELLA M. FLORES Associate Professor and Director Research & Strategy for the Education Research Center University of Texas at Austin
EARL LEWIS
MITCHELL CHANG
The Our Compelling Interests initiative was created by Dr. Earl Lewis and the book series is co-led and co-edited by Dr. Lewis and Dr. Nancy Cantor. With support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Our Compelling Interests is one of the projects the newly established University of Michigan Center for Social Solutions has undertaken. It has commissioned future volumes on educational access and testing, crime and incarceration, art and creativity, and education and social mobility. With the aid of a steering committee, additional publications are being conceived.
AN INITIATIVE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SUPPORTED BY THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION
OUR COMPELLING INTERESTS
At a time when society is swiftly transforming, the Our Compelling Interests book series lays out the premise that for a democracy to thrive, diversity is critical. The initiative comes when we are contemplating a changing societal landscape. Major demographic changes taking place in America today necessi tate a renewed discussion about diversity. The question we must now ask ourselves is whether we are indeed planning properly, and what shape that plan must take if we are to be successful and prosperous moving forward together. The series promises to explore diversity—in racial, socioeconomic, gender, religious, regional, sexual, and other forms—through accessible, sophisticat ed, and balanced treatments by leading scholars, writers, intellectuals, and Thiscommentators.serieslaunched in the fall of 2016 with an overview volume, Our Compelling Interests: The Value of Diversity for Democracy and a Prosperous Society. The second title, The Diversity Bonus: How Teams Pay Off in the Knowledge Economy, sheds light on how diversity offers communities a prescription for thriving now and in the future and gives nations a competitive edge. Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity and the American Promise, the third volume, examines broader questions about the importance of religious diversity in the cultural, political, and economic life of the nation. The upcoming fourth volume will cover the successes and limitations of affirmative action admissions policies in higher education.
NANCY CANTOR is Chancellor of Rutgers Universi ty—Newark. Dr. Cantor is the co-editor with Earl Lewis of the Our Compelling Interests book series. She previ ously served as Chancellor and President of Syracuse University; Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan; Dean of Michigan’s Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs; Professor of Psychology and Senior Research Scientist at Institute for Social Research at Michigan; and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Princ eton University. Dr. Cantor currently is a member of the National Science Foundation Com mittee on Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering, the International Fellows Program Advisory Council of the Ford Foundation, the Board of Directors of the American Institutes for Research, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and the American Assembly. Dr. Cantor is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Cantor was elected a Fellow of the Ameri can Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000.
CO-EDITORSthe
EARL LEWIS is the Thomas C. Holt Distinguished University Professor of history, Afroamerican American and African Studies, and public policy, and the inaugural director of the Center for Social Solutions at the Univer sity of Michigan. He is president emeritus of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a past president of the Organiza tion of American Historians, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Most recently he was selected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences (2022).
GARY ORFIELD is Distinguished Research Professor of Education, Law, Political Science and Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests are in the study of civil rights, education policy, urban policy, and minority opportunity. He was co-founder and director of the Harvard Civil Rights Project, and since 2007 serves as co-director of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA. His central interest has been the development and implementation of social policy, particuMEET THE AUTHOR NEW RELEASE larly the impact of policy on equal opportunity for success in American society. Orfield is a member of the National Academy of Education and has received numerous awards, includ ing the Teachers College Medal, Social Justice Award of the AERA, the American Political Science Association Charles Merriam Award for his “contribution to the art of government through the application of social science research,” and honorary PhDs.
This book explores the systematic failure of American higher education to provide equity to students of color and the growing consequences in a society becoming primarily nonwhite, with a rising need for educated people, which has failed to effectively incorporate and educate the future majority. The book shows how the society operates in ways that make race a powerful force in creating and sustaining unequal precollege opportunity on many levels and then tries, unsuccessfully to resolve the issues—particularly the issues of preparation and affordability—with race neutral policies.
MITCHELL CHANG is the Associate Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the University of California, Los Angeles. There he also serves as a professor of Education and Asian American Studies. Chang’s research focuses on the educational efficacy of diversity-related initiatives on college campuses and how to apply those best practices toward advancing student learning and democra tizing institutions. He has written over ninety publications, some of which were cited in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Grutter v. Bollinger, one of two cases involving the use of race sensitive admissions practices at the University of Michigan.
STELLA M. FLORES is Associate Professor of Higher Education and Public Policy at the University of Texas at Austin where she holds a cross-school appointment in the Departments of Education, Leadership and Policy and Curriculum and Instruction. She is also Director of Research and Strategy for the Education Research Center also at UT-Austin. She holds an EdD in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University, an EdM from Harvard University, an MPAff from The University of Texas at Austin, and a BA from Rice University. Her research examines the effects of state and federal policies on college access and completion outcomes for low-income and underrepresented populations including immigrant and English Learner students. Dr. Flores has also published widely on demographic changes in U.S. schools, affirmative action in higher education, and Minority Serving Institutions. In 2003 her co-authored work was cited in the U.S. Supreme Court Gratz v. Bollinger decision (dissenting opinion) and in various amicus briefs submitted to the Supreme Court on affirmative action. In addition to her academic appointments, she also previously served as Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity from 2018-2020 at New York University. Starting in 2021, Dr. Flores will also serve as co-editor of AERA Open, a journal of the American Association for Educational MODERATORResearch.
CONTRIBUTOR
MAYRA LARA is the Associate Director of Educator Engagement at The Education Trust - West. As the Associate Director of Educator Engagement, Mayra works closely with County Offices of Education, school districts, schools, and educators helping shape meaningful policies and practices which will have lasting, positive impacts on students. She also leads ETW’s college and career readiness work, with a specific focus on underrepresented students of color, low-in come students and emergent bilingual students. This specific area of her work marries personal experience with a professional passion embedded in a desire to see young people having a humanizing educational experience.
AUDREY DOW is the Senior Vice President of the Campaign for College Opportunity, a California-based policy and research organization that ensures more students go to college and succeed. As a member of the Executive Team, she has broad responsibilities for co-leading the organi zations’ strategic direction, robust research agenda, and for leading strategic media, communications and coalition building efforts. Audrey has over twenty years of experience in the public and nonprofit sectors where she has trained
PANELISTS
Latinas to take on elected and appointed leadership roles in the public sector at Hispanas Or ganized for Political Equality (HOPE) and served as a gubernatorial appointee to the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. She was appointed in 2021 by Governor Gavin Newsom to the California Health Workforce and Education Training Council. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Excelencia in Education, the Alliance for a Better Community, the Advisory Board for Just Equations, and the CA Student Aid Commission Cal Grant Modernization Work group. She previously served on the Technical Advisory Committee for the California Future Health Workforce Commission and was the California State Senate’s appointee to the Awards for Innovation in Higher Education Committee.
PANELISTS
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ALISON YOSHIMOTO-TOWERY is the new executive director of the UC-CSU California Collaborative for Neuro diversity and Learning housed at UCLA. In this role, she will oversee and coordinate a statewide hub of activities and resources developed by leading researchers, UC and CSU teacher education programs, and partnering districts and schools to advance learning for neurodiverse students and other underserved students, which will ultimately support better educational opportunities for all children. Using educational, psychological, and neuroscience research that centers equity and inclusivity, the Collaborative brings together educators, faculty directors, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate student researchers to explore evidence-based practices and advance policy. Until recently, Yoshimoto-Towery served as chief academic officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), overseeing a myriad of specialized programs for more than 550,000 students, in one of the nation’s largest and most diverse school districts.
MEDIA RELEASE
Center for Social Solutions
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
University of Michigan
505 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI lsa.umich.edu/social-solutions48109-1045