Each year, the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) holds a diversity summit in northern Nevada offering attendees the opportunity to learn about new ideas and emerging practices, as well as network with campus and community leaders. The day-long event includes various tracks and sessions related to inclusion, diversity, equity and access (IDEA), and the connections to student success initiatives, workforce and economic development, community engagement and pipelines to higher education.

The selected theme of “Critical, Constructive, and Courageous Conversations” was voted on by the Cultural Diversity Committee with input from various affinity groups. As part of the theme, the sessions are designed to foster discussions around questions like: What conversations do we need to be having? What skills, tools, and perspectives are helpful for engaging in those conversations? What happens when we don't engage in those conversations?

The Northern Nevada Diversity Summit will be held in the Joe Crowley Student Union on campus at the University of Nevada, Reno on Feb. 22 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Summit and associated sessions are free for all faculty, staff and students of NSHE institutions and for community partners to attend.

Cheyenne Magpantay, from the the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, is the lead organizer of the Northern Nevada Diversity Summit. “I hope this event will provide a space for individuals to connect, share ideas and best practices, and build a community around inclusion, diversity, equity and access.” Magpantay said. “ Engaging in critical, constructive, and courageous conversations can foster understanding, growth, and progress in both personal and professional settings. Please consider joining the conversations with a spirit of respect, empathy, and openness.”

Sessions will be led by experts from across NSHE institutions. The keynote speaker is Myisha Cherry, Ph.D., who will give an address entitled “On Conversations: How Emotions Impact Our Relationships.” In this talk, Cherry examines this question and others like it and explains how the answers we are looking for may have less to do with the topic and more to do with us. Using a framework built on her research for Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better and other writing about emotions, Cherry will offer strategies for how to be the kind of person with whom people would want to have a conversation. You can view the full agenda on the NV Diversity Summit website and you can register to attend the event.