The Inclusive Excellence Scholar Residency (IESR) assists the University of Dayton community to achieve a more robust integrated approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion that
The overarching topic of each IESR lays a thematic foundation that shapes and informs diversity, equity and inclusion professional development and education opportunities for faculty, staff, and administrators for the academic year.
This year's Inclusive Excellence Scholar Residency will feature Dr. Sylvia Hurtado. Dr. Hurtado is Professor in the Graduate School of Education and Information at the University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining UCLA, she served as Director of the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan.
Sylvia Hurtado has written extensively on racial campus climate, the experiences of underrepresented identity groups in college, and diversity in higher education. She has over 100 publications, seven books/monographs, and co-edited two books that won awards from the International Latino Book Awards in 2016 for Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Advancing Research and Transformative Practice (Routledge Press) and in 2017 for The Magic Key: The Educational Journey of Mexican Americans from K-12 to College and Beyond (University of Texas Press).
IBRAM X. KENDI is a New York Times bestselling author and the Founding Director of The Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University. A Professor of History and International Relations and a frequent public speaker, Kendi is an ideas columnist at The Atlantic. He is the author of THE BLACK CAMPUS MOVEMENT, which won the W.E.B. Du Bois Book Prize, and STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING: THE DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF RACIST IDEAS IN AMERICA, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction. At 34 years old, Kendi was the youngest ever winner of the NBA for Nonfiction. He grew up dreaming about playing in the NBA (National Basketball Association), and ironically he ended up joining the other NBA.
Dena Samuels, PhD serves as a mindfulness-based diversity, equity, and inclusion author, speaker, leadership trainer, and consultant. An award-winning tenured professor, she taught at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs in the Women’s & Ethnic Studies program for 20 years while consulting around the U.S. and beyond. Her passion is to inspire people to raise their personal and social awareness to live more fulfilling, connected, and meaningful lives; and to assist organizations, campuses, and corporations in building more diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultures. Samuels’ latest book, The Mindfulness Effect: an unexpected path to healing, connection, & social justice (Night River Press, 2018) offers 25 mindfulness practices and activities for health/wellness, self-empowerment, culturally inclusive leadership, social and environmental justice. To accompany this book, she offers The Mindfulness Effect Journal & Practice Planner, which serves as a workbook for reflecting on the practices in the book, and for creating a personalized plan to incorporate mindfulness into readers’ lives. Her previous book, The Culturally Inclusive Educator: Preparing for a Multicultural World (Teachers College Press, 2014) provides transformative inquiry and specific strategies for building cultural inclusion both personally and institutionally. Over her extensive career, Dr. Samuels has been interviewed in print, radio, online, and on TV, including by the Colorado affiliate station of NPR; and by the Huffington Post. She is also a featured speaker in Thomas Keith’s upcoming documentary, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? (2019). Samuels volunteers as co-facilitator of the monthly Second Tuesday Race Forum of Denver, and also as co-chair of The Privilege Institute, the institutional home of the annual White Privilege Conference. In Denver, Samuels serves as a culturally inclusive, trauma-sensitive yoga and mindfulness instructor.
Dr. Damon A. Williams is a visionary and inspirational leader, and also one of the nation’s recognized experts in strategic diversity leadership, youth development, corporate responsibility, educational achievement, social impact, and organizational change.
He is a global thought leader having worked with more than 1,000 colleges and universities, Fortune 100 companies, foundations, and government agencies, as keynote speaker, strategist, educator, and social impact leader.