Over the course of the fall 2020 semester, the Business Integrity Leadership Initiative, in partnership with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, held weekly workshops for students, faculty, and the NWA community to further the conversation on systemic racism and provide guidance on an action-oriented approach to speaking up against racism. These workshops were led by Dr. Barbara Lofton, assistant dean of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and Dr. Cindy Moehring, founder and executive chair of the Business Integrity Leadership Initiative.
The participants met to discuss two books, “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo and “Giving Voice to Values” by Mary Gentile. These books inspired open conversation and authentic dialogue as participants enriched their understanding of systemic racism and how to address it. They learned from the experiences of the speakers and peers attending the workshops alongside them.
These workshops were voluntary and facilitated via Zoom due to the pandemic. Despite that, the participation level was very high. Participants shared openly, tackled thought-provoking questions in small-groups, and watched videos to further explain the concepts covered in the books.
While the Let’s Talk semester series has ended, this is just the beginning of the conversation about integrity and systemic racism. Through the Business Integrity Leadership Initiative and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, we will continue to learn and foster a sense of community around speaking up in general, and specifically speaking up to address systemic racism.
Those in attendance were able to receive LinkedIn certifications, and students were able to earn career readiness badges for integrity and race. These certifications are a way for individuals to explicitly show their life-long learning journey and the competencies they are building outside of the formal classroom setting.
Stay tuned as next semester Barbara Lofton will continue further workshops about systemic racism, while Cindy Moehring will lead a Let’s Talk semester program on another aspect of integrity -- fraud!
