MLK Center, Enrollment Management to Host Diversity Leadership Summit
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 28, 2019) — In an effort to support, encourage and inspire students to achieve the unexpected, the University of Kentucky Martin Luther King Center, in partnership with Enrollment Management, is hosting the first annual Diversity Leadership Summit, Thursday, Nov. 7. The summit is free and open to Kentucky college students and prospective multicultural high school juniors and seniors.
"The Diversity Leadership Summit encourages all students to achieve the unexpected while establishing a standard of excellence in all that they seek to accomplish," said Jason Brooks, director of the MLK Center. "Whether it’s through scholarship, leadership, professional development or service, the conference is meant to energize current and prospective college students to believe that anything is wildly possible."
This summit will be the first of its kind for the MLK Center and Enrollment Management. With a mission to empower UK students from all communities to improve their college experience, organizers believe the summit will provide a culture of civic dialogue and a campus-wide "brave space" for students to develop their cultural identity and leadership skills.
”The Diversity Leadership Summit provides students an opportunity to grow their leadership skills in an interactive, support environment alongside their peers plus learn more about what it takes to become a Wildcat," said Chaquenta Neal, undergraduate admissions recruiter. "The fact that they can experience this alongside current college students is just the icing on the cake.”
Learning outcomes of the summit include:
- developing an appreciation for inclusion through self-awareness and consciousness of social and global issues;
- encouraging the cultivation of civic responsibility and well-being through interpersonal interaction and communication;
- expanding their knowledge base, so it stimulates application of pluralistic behavior and promotes reflection; and
- preparing students to lead in a global society and inspire social change.
The summit will feature breakout sessions for attendees to network and a variety of guest speakers who will discuss topics ranging from culturally responsive leadership to student activism. Guest speakers include:
- MrJeffDess,
- Latoya Green,
- David Edward Garcia,
- Sydney Blocker,
- Ruth González Jiménez,
- Antonio Talamo,
- Joseph Shepard,
- Tony Dontson,
- Stephanie Nance,
- Walter Malone and
- Adrianna Fisher-Willis.
To register for the summit and for more information on the schedule of events, click here.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.