Indiana University, in partnership with the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE), is pleased to host the inaugural IDEAL Conference from April 4 to 6, 2024, at the JW Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana.
IU stepped in to support the creation of a regional platform for this critical endeavor on race and ethnicity in that the national conference is being held this year in Hawaii. The cost alone makes attendance prohibitive for many higher education professionals and institutional leaders.
The IDEAL conference in Indianapolis offers an affordable and accessible alternative, providing a valuable professional development resource for Midwestern secondary and postsecondary education institutions and affiliated organizations.
The conference will also boost the profile of Indianapolis and the state and provide a local community and economic contribution.
“IU is proud to be taking the lead on this important conference and to present attendees with several days of learning, growing and discussing critical issues in advancing equity in higher education,” says James C. Wimbush, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion and Johnson Chair for Diversity and Leadership.
Monica Johnson, associate vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at Indiana University, agrees, adding: The IDEAL Conference includes pre-conference institutes, concurrent workshops, research-based poster sessions, and immersive experiences that all provide a variety of perspectives and promising practices from and for higher education institutions throughout the Midwest and beyond”
About the IDEAL Conference
More than 100 unique institutions are participating in the IDEAL conference, with attendees from coast to coast. Nationally recognized keynote speakers will be featured in addition to a series of “Promising Practice” sessions designed to create opportunities for dialogue and exchange information on best practices and research on programs relating to diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education.
The sessions will culminate with the “IDEAL Promising Practice Award” presentation, highlighting innovative and promising DEI approaches in higher education.
Day One Opening Keynote Speakers
Khalilah Shabazz, Ph.D., Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Butler University
In 2022, Khalilah Shabazz joined Butler University as its inaugural vice president and chief diversity officer. In that role, Shabazz collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to proactively develop and implement plans, programs and activities that educate and motivate members of the Butler community to advance diversity, equity and inclusion as core values of student learning and success.
Before joining Butler, Shabazz was assistant vice chancellor for student diversity, equity and inclusion at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis beginning in 2001. Her professional experience there also included a seven-year stint as the founding director of IU Indianapolis’s Diversity Enrichment & Achievement Program. In addition, she served as director of the school’s Multicultural Center since 2014.
Shabazz also has experience as a diversity panelist for the NCAA, a diversity trainer for the Indianapolis-Marion County Police Department and a diversity guest speaker and workshop presenter for several companies and organizations across the United States. She is an active member in leadership with Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and the president and founder of SAAS National Organization, Inc.
John Gates, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and Clinical Professor, Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. School of Business, Purdue University
John Gates joined Purdue University in early 2019 as the vice provost for diversity, inclusion and belonging and as a clinical professor in the Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. School of Business.
Before his appointment at Purdue, Gates was the inaugural associate dean at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. There, he was responsible for diversity, inclusion and engagement strategy. He also provided leadership in recruiting and retaining faculty and graduate students from underrepresented minorities and guidance for diversity in curriculum development and programming.
Other prior academic posts for Gates include serving as associate dean for administration and finance at Harvard College and Harvard University and as special assistant to the president and provost at the University of Vermont, where he focused on strategic initiatives, change management and diversity. Additionally, Gates has held a series of positions with increasing responsibility at New York University, culminating with his role as executive director of global operations.
Gates also launched and led his consulting firm, Criticality Management Consulting, where he advised corporate clients on a range of workforce issues.
Redgina Hill, Ph.D., Vice President for Inclusion and Equity, Saint Mary's College
Redgina Hill is the founder and CEO of Redgina Hill Consulting and the president of inclusion and equity for Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. In that role, she defines and cultivates diversity, equity, inclusion and justice as an institutional and educational priority.
Hill received her Bachelor of General Studies degree in 2006 from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, and her M.B.A., with a specialization in accounting, in 2010 from Indiana Wesleyan University. She earned her doctorate in higher education from Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California, receiving the 2015 Social Justice Fellowship and the 2016 Carolyn Juillerat Memorial Scholarship for Servant Leadership.
In addition, Hill served as vice president of the Black Doctoral Student Association.
Day Two Keynote Speakers
Alexander Jun, Ph.D., Global Researcher in Equity and Justice Professor of Higher Education, Azusa Pacific University
Alexander Jun is an avid researcher of equity and justice in higher education worldwide. He was a TEDx speaker in 2012, a global fellow with the Center for Khmer Studies in Cambodia, an international research fellow at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, and a scholar-in-residence at Belmont University.
Jun is the author of several books, including From Here to University: Access, Mobility, and Resilience among Urban Latino Youth; White Out: Understanding White Privilege and Dominance in the Modern Age; White Jesus: The Architecture of Racism in Religion and Education and White Evolution: The Constant Struggle for Racial Consciousness. His latest book, Global White Supremacy: Anti-Blackness and University as Colonizer, was released in May 2023.
Jun holds a Ph.D. in education policy from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. He is currently a professor of higher education at Azusa Pacific University.
Lori Patton Davis, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Studies, The Ohio State University
Lori Patton Davis is among the most respected, accomplished and influential scholars in higher education. She is the author of more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and other academic publications appearing in venues such as The Journal of Higher Education, Teachers College Record, Journal of College Student Development, Urban Education and the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. Patton Davis’s research has been cited in more than 6,000 publications and funded by grants from the Spencer Foundation, Lumina Foundation, American Psychological Foundation and an array of other entities.
In addition, Patton Davis has served on seven editorial boards for journals in the field of education and was previously associate editor of QSE. She was the American Educational Research Association Division J Equity and Inclusion officer for six years. The American College Personnel Association members elected her to a two-year term as the first director of Equity and Inclusion on the association’s national governing board. Patton Davis also has received many national awards for her scholarly contributions and was recognized in the Edu-Scholar Rankings among the top 200 educators in the United States.
She is a frequently sought-after expert on a wide range of education topics. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Huffington Post, Diverse Issues in Higher Education and dozens of other media outlets have quoted Patton Davis and featured her research.
Patton Davis also has advised university presidents and other senior administrators, philanthropic foundation executives, culture center directors and educators in urban K-12 schools.
Vasti Torres, Ph.D., Interim Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Indiana University
Before appointment as interim vice provost, Vasti Torres was a professor at the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education and an associate faculty member in Latino Studies at the University of Michigan. She has been the principal investigator for several grants, including a multi-year grant investigating the choice to stay in college for Latino students and a multi-year grant examining the experiences of working college students.
Torres has worked on several community college initiatives, including the Achieving the Dream and Rural Community College Initiative. Her professional service includes roles as vice president for Division J: Postsecondary Education for the American Educational Research Association from 2019 to 2021; in 2007, she became the first Latina president of a national student services association, ACPA; and, in 2020, she began her term as the editor of the Journal of College Student Development. Previously, Torres served as the dean of the College of Education at the University of South Florida and as director of the Center for Postsecondary Research in the School of Education at Indiana University.
Torres’s professional awards include the Contribution to Knowledge Award from the American College Personnel Association and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. The ACPA honored her as a Diamond Honoree, Senior Scholar, Wise Woman and the Latino Network John Hernandez Leadership Award. Other honors include the Professional Achievement Alumni Award from the University of Georgia, Program Associate for the National Center for Policy in Higher Education, Hispanic Scholarship Fund Alumni Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award In 2008.
Closing Keynote Speaker
Kimberlé Crenshaw, L.L.M.
Kimberlé Crenshaw is a highly regarded civil rights activist and feminist. Known for her development of “intersectionality,” “Critical Race Theory” and the #SayHerName campaign, Crenshaw is considered a leading authority on civil rights, Black feminist legal theory and race, racism and the law. She is also the most cited woman legal scholar in the history of the law and was recognized as one of the top ten thinkers in the world by Prospect Magazine in 2019.
Crenshaw writes a column for The New Republic and frequently contributes to MSNBC and NPR.
Register Today
Conference registration includes a pre-conference institute, keynote sessions, workshops, poster sessions, and a welcome and closing reception. Registration is now open. Please note: Space is limited to the first 600 conference registrations!
Register today for the IDEAL Conference.