Excellence of the Black Woman Conference is today

(NOTE: a one-page summary of the conference sessions is available for download here.)

Opening Ceremony/Declaration of Sacred Space, 8:30 a.m.

Dr. Kalvin DaRonne Harvell (Keeper of the Tradition/Coordinator of the BMQFG)

Greetings from the Deans of the School of Liberal Arts (Henry Ford College)
Associate Dean Pamela Stewart and Interim Dean Robert Yahrmatter

Lasonia Gentle (BMQFG) Opening Poem

Concurrent Sessions: Knowledge, 9:00 - 9:50 a.m.

9:00 Concurrent Session A: Ujima, Forfa Auditorium (9:00 - 9:50 a.m.)

Session Title:

Education is the great equalizer

Session Presenter:

Professor Yolanda Brown-Spidell, MA, CTRT
Sociology Adjunct Professor (Henry Ford College)

Session Description:

As a community college alumna, a divorced mom of five children, and a first-generation college graduate, I understand the challenges that African American women face as they work towards matriculating through higher education institutions. However great the challenges are, it is important to reminder yourself and to create a community that will remind you of your "Why" and that "Yes you can". In this presentation participants will be encouraged to stay their educational course, be given resources to support them on their educational journey and be encouraged to find their voice so they can finish strong.

9:00 Concurrent Session B: Ujima, Rosenau Room, (9:00 - 9:50 a.m.)

Session Title:

Making the Most of Financial Aid

Session Presenter:

Elizabeth Preston, M.A.
Financial Aid Administrator

Session description

This session will review with students the process for applying for institutional, local, state, and federal financial aid. These include discussions on:

• Annual FAFSA Preparation
• The need to obtain an FSA ID
• Dependent versus Independent
• Types of Aid (Federal Pell Grant, Work Study, Scholarships, Detroit Promise, State of Michigan Tuition Incentive Program, Michigan Gear Up, Michigan Fostering Futures Scholarship, Michigan Competitive Scholarships, etc.).
• How to borrow responsibly
• Professional Judgements, which include, Dependency Overrides and Special Circumstances.

9:00 Concurrent Session C: Nia, Berry Auditorium, (9:00 - 9:50 a.m.)

Session Title:

An Exploration of Opportunity at Grand Valley State University (GVSU)

Session Presenter:

Kendra Ollis, M.A.
Admissions Recruiter
Grand Valley State University

Session description

Representatives from Grand Valley State University (GVSU) will discuss the wonderful opportunities available at the university (GVSU).

Concurrent Sessions: Wisdom, 10:00 - 11:20 a.m.

10:00 Concurrent Session A: Nia, ASCC Atrium, (10:00 - 11:20 a.m.)

Session Subject:

College Tour (ASCC Atrium)

Session Presenters:

Representatives from Colleges and Universities

Session Description:

We welcome representatives from several universities. Representatives will share important transfer/admissions information. This session generates critical thought, provides insights, and fosters conversations about the importance of preparing (early) to enter the university.

Universities:

Grand Valley State University
Saginaw Valley State University
University of Michigan
University of Michigan-Dearborn
Eastern Michigan University
Siena Heights University
Northwood University
Wayne State University
Davenport University
College for Creative Studies
Kettering University
Olivet College
Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses-Detroit

10:00 Concurrent Session B: Nia, Rosenau, (10:00 - 11:20 a.m.)

Session Subject:

College Preparatory and Success Academies
HBCU Virtual Tour

Session Representatives:

Norfolk State University - Derek Henry Tennessee State University - Dr. Carjamin Scott Tuskegee University - Roger Gray IV University of Maryland Eastern Shore - Aaron Cork

Session Description:

We welcome representatives from several universities. Representatives will share important transfer/admissions information. This session generates critical thought, provides insights, and fosters conversations about the importance of preparing (early) to enter the university.

10:00 Concurrent Special Spotlight Session: Nia (Professionals), Forfa Auditorium, (10:00 - 11:20 a.m.)

Session Title:

Classrooms, Class, and Classism: Qualitative reflections and lessons learned from an elementary school at-risk girls of color mentorship program in Nevada, Las Vegas.

Session Presenter:

Theodore S. Ransaw, Ph.D.
Michigan State University

Session Description:

Young girls of color are often faced with many obstacles in school including, classism, racism, and lack of opportunity. Utilizing the theoretical framework of womanism, the three goals of the mentorship program were to help foster positive self-image, provide alternative behavioral strategies and to encourage mentees to embrace high academic achievement expectations. The mentorship program included one-on-one college freshmen mentors, group mentors and guest speakers. While the goals of the mentorship program were achieved, three additional findings were discovered. The first, literature for mentorship programs for girls of color typically only focus on reproduction and pregnancy. Second, skin color representation matters to girls of color as much as gender, and race representation. Third, female mentees may prefer male mentors over female mentors.

Lunch: Understanding, Forfa Auditorium, Plenary Session, 11:30-1:30 p.m.

Keynote Speaker:

Dr. Pamela Pugh
Chief Programs Officer for The Chisholm Legacy Project: A resource Hub for Black Frontline Climate Justice Leadership
and Vice President, Michigan State Board of Education
(see full bio of Dr. Pugh below)

Post-Lunch Panel Discussion - Rap Session: Culture Freedom, 1:40 - 2:30 p.m.

Session: Kujichagulia, Forfa Auditorium, 1:40 - 2:30 p.m.

Session Title:

What I wish I knew before coming to college

Session Presenters:

Black Male and QUEENS Focus Group (Henry Ford College)

Panel Discussion:

Concurrent Sessions: Power, 2:30 - 3:20 p.m.

2:30 Concurrent Session A: Kujichagulia, Rosenau, (2:30 - 3:20 p.m.)

Session Title:

Ain't no Stopping Us Now We On The Move - A discussion of Institutional Resilience

Session Presenters:

Dr. Athena Chukwu, Pharm D.
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

Michelle Chukwu, BA.
Neurobiology
Boston University

2:30 Concurrent Session B: Kuumba, Forfa Auditorium, (2:30 - 3:20 p.m.)

Presentation Title:

Women in STEM: What is Information Science?

Presenter:

LeAnna Level
Recruitment and Student Success Manager
University of Michigan
School of Information

Session Description:

Discover the field of Information Science and the Pathways to the University of Michigan School of Information's BSI program. This session will also highlight women working to create a better world through data and technology.

2:30 Concurrent Session C: Nia, Berry Auditorium, (2:30 - 3:20 p.m.)

Presentation Title:

Wayne State University Informational Session

Presenter:

Adanna Smith
Admissions Recruiter
Wayne State University

Concurrent Sessions: Equality, 3:30 - 4:20 p.m.

3:30 Concurrent Session A: Nia, Rosenau, (3:30 - 4:20 p.m.)

Session Title:

Teaching for Community Impact

Session Presenters:

Dr. Susan Gunn
Meagan Polega
Dr. Rashid Faisal
Davenport University
College of Urban Education

Session Description:

The Teaching for Community Impact workshop session will focus on the needs for highly qualified, culturally responsive teachers for underserved communities. Statewide, students of color account for 34.7% of all K-12 students, but only 10% of all teachers statewide are people of color. The need for teachers who culturally match their students cannot be understated, as a student of color who has a teacher of color by the 3rd grade is 7% more likely to graduate high school and 13% more likely to enroll in postsecondary education. This increases to 32% for two teachers of color (Gershenson, et al., 2021).

This session will define culturally responsive teaching and bridge the connection between personal and professional goals by exploring key practices for culturally responsive teaching. Participants will discover key approaches that facilitate understanding the cultural context of BMQFG diverse students and examine specific culturally responsive strategies and techniques that can be used in different disciplines to facilitate student learning. Participants will explore ways they could potentially impact their communities as teachers. Special emphasis will be placed on strategies teachers can use to engage students, families and the community as a whole.

The session will also provide participants with information about the various course offerings at Davenport University’s College of Urban Education.

3:30 Concurrent Session B: Kujichagulia, Forfa Auditorium, (3:30 - 4:00 p.m.)

Session Title:

One Word is All it Takes

Session Presenter:

Vice President Reginald Best Henry Ford College

3:30 Concurrent Session C: Umoja, Berry Auditorium, 3:30 - 4:00 p.m.

Session Title:

An Exploration of Olivet College

Session Presenter:

Kwamise Taylor
Gospel Choir Director
Olivet College

Session Description:

A representative from Olivet College will discuss the wonderful opportunities available at Olivet.

Closing Session, Forfa Auditorium

(Cipher), BMQFG, 4:20 - 4:30 p.m.

25 years of public service

A lifelong Saginaw resident and an alumna of Saginaw High School, Pugh earned her associate degree in pre-engineering from Delta College in University Center, MI. Transferring to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, FL, she earned her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. Pugh later earned both her master’s degree and her doctoral degree in environmental health sciences from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Pugh has 25 years of experience in the field of public health with an emphasis on achieving health equity through environmental justice. An advocate of the “whole child” approach to education, she is passionate about fostering the education and wellness of children through systems and programs that involve the physical, social, and emotional aspects of their development. Her research includes development of an assessment tool to identify household, neighborhood, and psycho-social factors that pose the greatest environmental health challenges to children and their families.

In addition to her duties to the State Board of Education and the Chisholm Legacy Project, Pugh is the founder of Regeneration, LLC, a Michigan-based consultancy that serves as a catalyst for economic sustainability and healthy urban communities by assisting agencies, organizations, and businesses to build capacity with inclusive partnerships.

Fighting environmental injustice

Recognizing that environmental health is a social justice issue, Pugh served as the Chief Public Health Advisor for the City of Flint from 2016-19. She worked alongside then-Flint Mayor Dr. Karen Williams Weaver to implement a “Health Equity in All Policy” approach to decision-making during the Flint water crisis. Pugh is also noted for being at the forefront of the fight to end childhood lead poisoning in Michigan and was instrumental in reducing elevated blood lead levels in children living in Saginaw.

During her 14 years with the Saginaw County Health Department, most notably as Community Health Improvement Director, Pugh worked tirelessly to forge partnerships with community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, academia, policymakers, and local and state government in an effort to secure millions of dollars to address issues pertaining to environmental health and health equity.

Alongside the Michigan State Conference NAACP, Black Lives Matter Michigan, One Love Global, Inc., and other civil rights leaders, social justice activists, public health and public policy leaders, Pugh led the charge to get racism declared a public health crisis in Michigan. This move is focused on addressing institutional racism and inequities in everything from housing to government policies that lower life expectancies among Black Americans.

Addressing educational inequity

In 2014, Pugh was elected to an 8-year term on the State Board of Education.. She also serves as a member of the Healthy Schools Network Board of Directors and as a member of the National Association of State Boards of Education Board of Directors. In each of these roles, Pugh is able to:

• Draw urgent attention to the linkages between academic outcomes and children’s health
• Advocate for policy and programs that involve the physical, social, and emotional aspects of child development
• Push for resources to improve the environments in which children and their families live, learn, work, and play

Pugh’s academic research includes development of an assessment tool to identify household, neighborhood, and psycho-social factors that pose the greatest environmental health risk to children.

She stands firm in her role of being an outspoken voice for Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) children. Pugh initiated a program now led by U-M to address the high obesity rate and lack of access to physical activity for the state’s 1.5 million school children – especially in BIPOC communities – during the coronavirus pandemic with the launch of the InPACT at Home initiative. The program offers free workouts led in online formats, developed by physical education teachers.

As Michigan schools have grappled with keeping students in face-to-face learning during the pandemic, Pugh has persistently expressed concerns about exposure risks related to building infrastructure, exacerbated by long-standing disparities in underfunded communities. She has remained vigilant and vocal in her push for policymakers to better assess and address these challenges.

Pugh also took a stand in the historic Detroit Right to Literacy lawsuit filed by Detroit schoolchildren. Though named as a defendant in the case in her capacity as a member of the State Board of Education, she sided with the seven minority student plaintiffs while lawyers from the state asked the federal appeals court to throw out the lawsuit.

Pugh was also involved in thwarting efforts to marginalize civil rights history in Michigan’s K-12 social studies curriculum standards. Most recently, she has been a leading voice in opposition to efforts to censor curriculum or intimidate Michigan’s K-12 educators to prevent the teaching of accurate U.S. history, specifically as it relates to slavery, institutional racism, and the long legacy of both.

Community advancement through political involvement

Passionate about fostering the involvement of young adults and women in the political process, Pugh is the former 2nd Vice President of the National Federation of Democratic Women and is the immediate past chair of the Michigan Democratic Women’s Caucus. She co-organized Women’s Issues Conferences for the Federation’s Midwest Region in 2015 and for the Michigan Caucus in 2018. She co-chaired the first Climate, Energy, and Environment Roundtable at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. She has served as a pledged delegate for several conventions, including the 2016 and 2020 DNC.

Pugh has been recognized nationally by the NAACP as a two-time recipient of the Dr. Montague Cobb Award for special achievement in social justice, health justice, health education and promotion, fund-raising, and research. She is a proud member of World Outreach Campus Church of God in Christ and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Welcome to Henry Ford College!

We are extremely proud to host the second annual statewide Black Male Retention and Success Conference on our campus.

The conference was created by Dr. Kalvin DaRonne Harvell, sociology faculty member and leader of the Black Male and QUEENS Focus Group. In addition to Dr. Harvell, Mr. Chardin Claybourne, Faculty Director of the Learning Lab and Tutoring Services, and Dr. Courtney Matthews, English and Honors Program faculty member, have been instrumental in their leadership to the success of the BMQFG and this conference. This group has consistently demonstrated the Henry Ford College mission of “transforming lives and building better futures” for African American men and women. And that transformation extends well beyond our campuses. The students influenced by this group will go on to become leaders across every industry and field. They will be innovators in their communities, and in civic and service roles around the world. They will make this College proud.

I know Dr. Harvell personally, and if you have not met him, you are in for a treat. One of the most valuable aspects of his work is that it comes from a place of abundance and access. In serving underrepresented minorities, Dr. Harvell sets the highest standards for hard work and success. He is able to translate rigorous academic study and sociological insight into action-based goals and positive outcomes.

Dr. Harvell and his students do not settle for a modest level of success. They want to excel in and beyond the classroom. They don’t demand excellence, they inspire it. They understand that access, support, and equity are keys to leveling the field for everyone.

At today’s conference, I hope all of you will find like-minded colleagues who aspire to similar goals and who can share their initiatives and metrics for success, as well as the challenges they face. I am excited about Dr. Harvell’s vision of a state-wide network dedicated to the promotion of Black students’ academic and career success. Hopefully, you will all join in that effort.

Our Black students deserve our best. They are worthy of every effort to meet them where they are, to challenge, encourage, and support them in reaching the life-transforming excellence that shows their highest capabilities. Your conference theme today is “Excellence of the Black Woman. ” All of us at Henry Ford College eagerly join with you in carrying this work forward. Thank you for attending the conference. I hope you find it inspiring, informative, and energizing.

Best wishes,

Russell A. Kavalhuna, J.D.
President
Henry Ford College