“Confronting Erasure, Moving Toward Liberation and Abolition in Higher Education” was the theme of the Communicating Diversity Conference held October 18, 2024 at the Heldrich Hotel and Conference Center in New Brunswick, NJ. Conference highlights included a faculty panel; a keynote address delivered by Rutgers Law School alumna Jayné J. Johnson, Esq., the inaugural director of the New Jersey Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (Office of Equity); research presentations by Rutgers students; and a Scholars Networking event.

“The aim of the conference was to center and amplify underrepresented voices in research, education, policy, and other parts of society, and provide a space to celebrate theoretically driven and applied scholarship that seeks to create change,” said SC&I Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Bernadette Gailliard, who organized the conference.

The day-long event was kicked off with a welcome address presented by SC&I Dean for Research Mark Aakhus, followed by a the faculty panel moderated by Daniel Rice, assistant dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP). The panel, Gailliard said, enabled conference participants “to meet and learn from faculty who are doing innovative work that pushes the boundaries of their fields.”  

The participating faculty, who discussed the cutting-edge DEI work they are focusing on as well as opportunities for Rutgers to better support this kind of work, included SC&I Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Khadijah Costley White; SC&I Associate Professor of Library and Information Science Charles Senteio; Sylvia Chan-Malik, chair and associate professor of the Rutgers Department of American Studies, a core faculty member in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and affiliate graduate faculty for the Department of Religion: and Kenneth Sebastian Leon, associate professor in the Rutgers Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies and the Criminal Justice Program.

Following lunch, Johnson presented the keynote address, focusing on NJ state-level DEI initiatives. Johnson leads the state office “charged under Executive Order 265 to develop and support a statewide infrastructure for equity that covers State agencies, personnel employed by the State, and recipients of State funds. Through the coordination of policymaking processes within and across State agencies under Executive Order 319, guidance to the Governor and other State leaders, the Office of Equity works to strengthen the State workforce and improve outcomes for the people of New Jersey.”

Johnson, according to her bio, joined Governor Phil Murphy’s senior staff with over fifteen years of legal, policy, and advocacy experience working in the nonprofit sector and in state government, in both the legislative and judicial branches. She has led strategic policy reforms, managed teams, and forged collaborative partnerships across diverse stakeholder groups to implement mission-driven initiatives. A licensed New Jersey attorney, Johnson earned her JD from Rutgers University Law School in Newark, NJ, and a BA in International Studies from Oakwood University, an HBCU in Huntsville, Alabama.

Following the keynote, Rutgers students presented their work. As an interdisciplinary conference, Gailliard said, “The conference provided support for Rutgers students doing work on the margins of their respective disciplines through community building and knowledge sharing during student presentations in the afternoon.”

SC&I Ph.D. student M.J. Salas, who attended the conference, said, “The ‘Communicating Diversity’ Conference provided a space to have honest and needed discussions surrounding DE&I and academia. Thank you to Dr. Gailliard and the SC&I DE&I team for organizing this inaugural program. I look forward to future 'Communicating Diversity’ conferences!"

The conference was co-sponsored by SC&I, the Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP), the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), and the SC&I Gender and Media Minor.

“I hope this was the first of many future conferences and opportunities for this community to grow,” Gailliard said. “We are, in fact, already planning the next research mixer for the Spring semester.”

Learn more about the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on the website.

Photo captions, top to bottom: Johnson presenting the keynote; faculty on the panel, from left to right, Leon, Chan-Malik, Costley-White, Senteio; Johnson and Gailliard, a student presentation. 

Photos: John O’Boyle Photography