Confronting Ignorance and Prejudice in Public Forums

The Chronicle of Higher Education
November 28, 2011, 3:07 pm

By Marybeth Gasman

This post is co-authored with Mayra Olivares-Urueta, a Ph.D. student at the University of North Texas. Mayra is pursuing research related to the involvement of Latino families in all aspects of the college process as well as increasing the number of underrepresented students who complete allied-health degrees.
I met Mayra at a national conference a few weeks ago. Because she is a graduate student, it was one of her first academic conferences. She was excited, eager, and thrilled to meet people who cared about similar issues. Unfortunately, during one of the conference sessions, which focused on the impact that family has on minority students and their college aspiration and attainment goals, Mayra came face to face with prejudice against students just like her. The discussant commenting on papers in the session told the audience that (paraphrasing) ‘when we work with those students, we can’t make them want to go to college even if we really want them to.’ She then added, ‘If they want to go out and get pregnant after high-school graduation then we should just let them.’ Along with Mayra, many of the young students of color and assistant professors in the room were deeply offended by the speaker’s comments. They were “those” students the speaker’s remarks.

Full Story: http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/confronting-ignorance-and-prejudice-in-public-forums/30961?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

EEOC to Commemorate Equal Pay Day With Public Forum and Informational Fair

US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
PRESS RELEASE
4-25-11

WASHINGTON—To heighten public awareness of gender-based wage discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will hold a public forum from 10:30 a.m. to1:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, April 28, to commemorate Equal Pay Day. The program will be held at the EEOC’s downtown headquarters, 131 M Street, NE, Washington, D.C., and will be open to the public.
The forum will feature the following panels and exhibitors:
10:30-11:30 Closing the Wage Gap—Perspectives on Government Enforcement of Federal Wage Discrimination Laws

Jacqueline A. Berrien, Chair, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Tom Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Department of JusticeSara Manzano-Diaz, Director, Women’s Bureau, Department of Labor (DOL)Patricia Shiu, Director, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, DOL Nancy Leppink, Deputy Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, DOL Christine Griffin, Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management
11:30-12:30 Strategies for Closing the Wage Gap
Cecelie Counts, Legislative Representative, AFL-CIO Deborah Gillis, Senior Vice President, Membership & Global Operations, Catalyst Kate Kimpel, Partner, Sanford Wittels & Heisler, Plaintiffs’ Counsel in Velez v. Novartis Lisa Maatz, Director of Public Policy, American Association of University Women Moderator: Judith Winston, Former Undersecretary and General Counsel, Department of Education
12:30-1:30 Informational Fair: Learn What You Can Do to Close the Wage Gap

Partial List of Exhibitors: DC Office of Human Rights; National Partnership for Women and Families; National Women's Law Center; American Association of University Women; National Committee on Pay Equity; Coalition of Labor Union Women; Executive Office of the Mayor (DC)

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/4-25-11.cfm