The fourth ILEA Summit, held October 21-23, 2020, was our first-ever virtual summit, and was unequivocally a success! Over 350 faculty, staff, administrators from your institutions attended the summit, themed Engaging Faculty Champions in Equity Work. The summit kicked-off with a video welcome from Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, followed by a keynote address, “Saying Equity Will Not Beget Racial Equity” from Dr. Estela Bensimon, Director of the Center for Urban Education & Professor of USC Rossier School of Education, Center for Urban Education, University of Southern California. Dr. Bensimon also led a session for ILEA presidents and conducted the faculty workshop, “The Syllabus As an Instrument for Racial Equity.”Other workshops focused on achieving equitable student outcomes, diversifying approaches for equity and inclusion and faculty hiring through an equity lens and were conducted by Dr. Davis Jenkins, Research Scholar Community College Research Center, Teacher’s College, Columbia University, Dr. Noelle Arnold, Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity Inclusion and Global Engagement (EDGE) College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, Dr. Kimberly McRae, Faculty Counselor and Instructor, Seattle Central College and Dr. Vik Bahl, Faculty, Green River College.
The Summit included our first Illinois Legislative Panel session focused on the higher education agenda in Illinois. Panel participants included: Dr. Vernese Edghill-Walden, Chief Diversity Officer, Northern Illinois University, Dr. Escortina Ervin, Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Compliance, Joliet Junior College and Dr. Mary Daniels, Associate Provost, Innovation and Strategic Initiatives, Chicago State University, Representative Chris Welch, State Representative, 7th District of Illinois, Representative Nick Smith, State Representative, 34th District of Illinois and Senator Celina Villanueva, State Senator, 11th District of Illinois.
Dr. Lisa Freeman, President of Northern Illinois University and David Sanders, President of Malcolm X College served as panelists on our first Presidential Reflections panel.They talked about leading equity initiatives on their campus.We also heard from representatives from ILEA schools in “Equity Speaks” sessions, where they discussed the equity planning process on their campuses as well as specific strategies in their plans. Lisa Castillo Richmond, Managing Director, PCC delivered the State of ILEA address on the final day of the summit where she discussed some of the additional equity challenges brought on by COVID-19 and highlighted strategies underway at ILEA institutions to ensure equity.
Summit by the Numbers:
- Total Number of Attendees: 350+
- Total Number of Faculty: 134
- Highest Overall Participation (2-yr): College of DuPage
- Highest Overall Participation (4-yr): Northern Illinois University
- Most Faculty Registrations: Harper College
- Top WHOVA Engagers:
o Dr. Scott Friedman, Moraine Valley Community College
o Lorri Scott, College of Lake County
o Gayle Miller, College of Lake County - Summit Evaluation, Quality of the Summit:
o 47.06% rated it Excellent
o 47.06% rated it Very Good
Many presentations and supporting materials from the summit can be found in the WHOVA app and will also be available on the ILEA portal in early 2021. For additional information, contact your Equity Program Manager.