Office of Equity and Belonging Speaker Series begins March 14

Over the next three months, the CWU Office of Equity and Belonging will be presenting a new speaker series that highlights prominent figures from around the country and the world.

As Vice President of Diversity and Belonging Dr. Charlita Shelton explains in a promotional video for the Office of Equity and Belonging Speaker Series, she and her colleagues are excited to bring so many highly regarded speakers to campus.

The series will begin Friday, March 14, with a visit from Dr. Deena Gonzalez, one of the most influential scholars of Chicana, Latina, Native American and Indigenous history in the United States. The free event in the Mary Grupe Center is open to the public and will begin at 3 p.m.

The next guest in the series will be Patrisse Cullors, an American activist, artist, and writer who co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. Cullors will deliver the keynote address during the 11^th annual President’s Diversity Awards, starting at 5 p.m. in the SURC Ballroom. Free tickets are required and are available through Wildcat Tickets.

Two weeks later, best-selling author Dr. Joshua Moon Johnson will be on campus. Dr. Johnson is an award-winning speaker and leader for LGBTQ+ advocacy, and will be speaking at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, in the SURC Theatre. The event is also free and open to the public.

Finally, as part of CWU’s pre-celebration of PRIDE Month in June, the speaker series will welcome Judy and Dennis Shepard, who lost their son to a hate crime in 1998. The couple founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and were pioneers in the movement to create federal hate crime legislation.

They will be speaking May 14 at 6 p.m. in the Milo Smith Tower Theatre. Free tickets will be required for this event, and will be available on Wildcat Tickets.

If you have questions about the inaugural CWU Office of Equity and Belonging Speaker Series, email charlita.shelton@cwu.edu.