Reunion Registration – Maddock Alumni Center
7:30 am – 9:30 pm
Pick up your name tag and reunion favor when you arrive on campus.
Reunion! A Family Affair: Breakfast Gathering
8 – 8:30 am
Plenary Session: Promoting Inclusivity on College Hill and Beyond
8:30 – 10:45 am
Alumni trustee Jeffrey Hines ’83 MD’86 will moderate a lively discussion with Provost Richard M. Locke; Professor Tricia Rose AM’87 PhD’93, P’14, Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America; and Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity Shontay Delalue on Brown’s progress toward the goals of the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP). Alumni stakeholders continue to engage in dialogue on the progress made while recognizing the challenges to achieving the DIAP’s goals.
Moving on to the arts, theatre director/educator Benny Sato Ambush ’73 will engage longtime BET Chairman and CEO Debra Lee ’76 LHD’14 hon., along with two-time Pulitzer-winning playwright Lynn Nottage ’86 DFA’11 hon., P’20, in a spirited conversation about the Black artist movement in America and its implications for promoting inclusivity across all media. What are the next frontiers? What barriers and challenges persist? What are the implications for fostering the next generation of Black talent?
Concurrent Workshops
11 am – 12:15 pm
Please choose one.
Workshop A — Technology for Societal Impact
How do we solve bias, harassment, and discrimination in the workplace? How do we use computing and math to protect privacy and civil liberties? Technology has become the most powerful tool to create change in the world. Influential Brown alumni and faculty working at the intersection of technology and society will discuss how tech and science can help solve some of our most vexing societal problems, reach more people, and create more impact than ever.
Moderator: Ugur Cetintemel, Chair, Computer Science Department, Brown University
Speakers: Lisa Gelobter ’91, CEO and Founder, tEQuitable; Seny Kamara, Associate Professor, Computer Science Department, Brown University
Workshop B — Intergenerational Perspectives on Being Black at Brown
What has it been like to be Black at Brown in different periods? Explore both the shared and distinctly unique experiences of Black Brunonians across the generations. What are some of the challenges we faced upon matriculation? How have they influenced our identity?
Facilitator: Alyce G. Johnson ’74, Interim Institute Community Equity Officer and Manager, Staff Diversity
and Inclusion, MIT
Workshop C — Blacks, the Economy, and Wealth
This pointed exchange will address factors involved in the
intergenerational transmission of wealth as well as the well-documented structural racial inequality and racial wealth differences. How significant are individual income, home ownership, education, parental wealth, ancestral origin, and work in wealth distribution? What are the implications of the current economy for differences in the net wealth and asset position for Blacks? Most importantly, what race-neutral or race-specific policies and practices would effectively address the persistent racial wealth gap?
Moderator: Harold Bailey, Jr. ’70 LHD’95 hon.
Presenter: Vicki L. Bogan ’91 AM’00 PhD’04, Associate Professor, Director, Institute for Behavioral and Household Finance, Cornell University
Workshop D — Black Empowerment and Influence Across Generations
How has the influence of Black leaders in politics and policy changed over time? What paths have Brown graduates taken in these realms and how have they succeeded? What obstacles to Black advancement have subsided, and what obstacles remain? Brown alumni, students, and faculty members will discuss the impact Brown has had on their individual advancement and address issues of concern to the Black community at Brown and beyond.
Moderator: Wendy J. Schiller, Ph.D. ADE’02 hon., Chair, Political Science Department, Brown University
Panelists: Raisa M. Cramer ’16, JD candidate, Harvard Law School; Gavin H. Logan ’07, Telecommunications Fellow, National Urban League; Joel I. Payne ’05, Senior Communications and Political Strategist, MWWPR
Workshop E — Race and Sports
Recent events have sparked national debate about racism and social activism in professional sports. Going back to the Negro League era in baseball, there has been controversy about white ownership and Black athletes, financial success versus exploitation, and Black access to the front office post-retirement. How does our society overcome the barriers that prevent Black athletes from realizing professional sports’ maximum social and economic benefits, including team ownership and management? How do we ensure they have the freedom to participate in and lead social protest and change? This panel will identify contemporary issues facing Black athletes today and suggest potent solutions.
Moderator: Kathleen E. Sharp ’94, CEO, The SharpDoc, PLLC
Presenters: Dennis M. Coleman, ’75, Partner, Ropes & Gray; N. Jeremi Duru, Esq. ’95, Professor of Law, American University; Jennifer Hunter, Associate Director of Athletics for Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives, Brown University
Lunch on your own
Noon – 1:30 pm
Make plans with fellow alumni to have lunch on Thayer Street, the legendary thoroughfare where, as students, we spent hours watching movies, eating, and walking to class.
Intercultural Legacy Narratives: Social Action, Equity, and Diversity Across Communities
1:30 – 2:45 pm
Reunion Co-chair Sheryl Brissett Chapman ’71 will open
this session, introducing the leaders of several alumni affinity
communities for a dynamic exchange on the intercultural
aspects and intersectionality of student activism at Brown.
How did the 1968 Black Student Walkout influence the
evolution of other major student-led movements at the
University? What are the unique narratives of each affinity
group that propel our shared journey toward a truly inclusive
Brown? How have Brown’s student activists leveraged their
differences for collective power?
Moderator: Shane L. Lloyd, MPH ’11, Assistant Director, Yale University Afro American Cultural Center
Participants: Jessica Brown ’16, Alexandra D. Carr ’06, Makini D. Chisolm-Straker ’05 MD’09, and Natasha M. Korgaonkar ’02
Concurrent Workshops
3 – 4:30 pm
Please choose one.
Workshop A — Leadership: Breaking Through the Physical Sciences
Women “breakthrough” leaders in science and computing will describe their individual ladders to success in male-dominated STEM disciplines. Find out how they overcame society’s assumptions about race, gender, expertise, qualifications, and their culturally defined presence as authorities. What strategies helped them achieve their personal and professional goals? How can women in STEM fields, especially women of color, minimize the risk of isolation, typecasting, and low morale?
Moderator: Gelonia L. Dent ScM’97 PhD’99, Adjunct Assistant Professor and Director, The Science Center
Presenter: Andrea I. Razzaghi ’82, Deputy Director of Astrophysics at NASA Headquarters
Workshop B — Telling Us Who We Are: The Importance of Black Arts, Media, and Culture Today
This conversation among alumni artists, journalists, and producers considers the important and changing role of media, art, and storytelling in shaping community and racial and ethnic imaginations in contemporary society. A special reception immediately follows at the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America.
Moderator: Tricia Rose AM’87 PhD’93, P’14, Chancellor's Professor of Africana Studies, Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives, Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, Brown University
Panelists: Brickson E. Diamond ’93, Co-Founder, The Blackhouse Foundation and Chief Executive Officer, Big Answers, LLC; Tanya K. Hernandez ’86, P’20, Archibald R. Murray Professor of Law, Fordham University; Scott Poulson-Bryant ’08, Assistant Professor of English, Fordham University; Doreen St. Félix ’14, Staff Writer, The New Yorker
Workshop C — Social Justice on the Edge: Evolving Perspectives
Are “ban the box” policies unintentionally racist? The discussion focuses on the hotly debated policy in which employers are not allowed to ask about criminal records on job applications. How does the policy affect the odds of finding work among young, low-skilled Black and Latino males? What is the basis for other disparities that affect this population, i.e., police shootings, constitutional rights, drug sentencing, and domestic violence? What are the broad and most significant policy implications?
Moderator: Preston C. Tisdale ’73, P’10, P’10 MPH’16 MD’16, P’12
Presenters: Terry-Ann Craigie, Assistant Professor of Economics, Connecticut College; Carolyn Wade Blackett ’79, First Female African American Senior Criminal Court Judge for the State of Tennessee
Workshop D — The Double Bind of Racial and Economic Inequality in Education
Fifty years ago, in response to a divided nation of “one black, one white,” the presidential Kerner Commission recommended sweeping reform to confront “pervasive discrimination in employment, education, and housing.” Today, the racial and income gaps in education and other opportunities remain a challenge. This panel will critically discuss innovative strategies to address the opportunity gap.
Moderator: Kenneth K. Wong ADE’06 hon., P’10, Walter and Leonore Annenberg Professor of Education Policy, Brown University
Panelists: Prudence L. Carter ’91, Dean of the Graduate School of Education at University of California Berkeley; Wendell E. Pritchett ’86, P’22, Provost, University of Pennsylvania
Workshop E — Making Life Better for Humans: Physics and Public Policy
What are the practical implications of a flexible, versatile recognition of the potential for theoretical physics to shape public policy? The presenter will explore how training as a physicist enables him to advocate for social justice at extraordinary levels. How can we enhance the reliance on more science in the forensic science field, establish policy frameworks for the integration of climate change for business and investment practices within a university, or inform the deliberations of a Supreme Court justice as he makes judicial decisions? Hear a perspective on the unexpected capacity of physics to influence and contribute to society.
Presenters: Gang Xiao ADE'96 hon., Physics Department Chair, Professor of Physics, Professor of Engineering, Director of Nanoscience and Soft Matter, Brown University; S. James Gates, Ford Foundation Professor of Physics, Presidential Scholars Program Co-Director, Brown University
Workshop F — Conversations Matter: Curating Intersectional Truths and Fostering Good Faith
Join the Chaplain’s Office and members of its Advisory Group for a conversation and exchange about Brown’s Center for Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT). Brown’s chaplaincy was one of only 10 campuses awarded a three-year grant for this work last fall from the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Brown colleagues and partners in multiple settings are engaging at the intersections of race and religion to address racial injury or silence. Initiatives include a monthly student Soulfood Gathering, a graduate student supper with new faculty of color, a monthly Muslim Women of Color group, and a session with colleagues on this methodology of racial healing circles.
Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America (CSREA) Alumni Open House Reception
4:30 – 5:30 pm
Please join CSREA for an Open House reception with
light refreshments.
A Spoken Word Performance: WALKOUT
5 – 6:30 pm
This Rites and Reason production, directed by Elmo Terry-Morgan ’74, incorporates the unique perspectives of 11 women and men from among the 65 who walked out of Brown on December 5, 1968, to protest the small number of Black students admitted to the University and the corresponding lack of academic and social support. Researched and written by Sheryl (Grooms) Brissett Chapman, ’71, Black music of 1968 is interwoven with spoken word and the sounds of Detroit and John Coltrane. Vincent “VT” Thomas ’73 of WBRU fame will place the walkout in historical and musical perspective as we recall the political events occurring across the country and at Brown. Young alumni will respond on open mic.
Black Alumni Reunion All-Class Photo
6:30 pm
All reunion attendees are invited to participate in this
memorable photo.
Reunion Celebration: The Making of Black Legacy - Dinner
7 – 9:30 pm
Join a celebratory evening with President Paxson and watch
as leaders of the Inman Page Black Alumni Council (IPC) present the inaugural Black Legacy Award to President Emerita Ruth J. Simmons LHD’12 hon, who has inspired us to honor the legacy contributions of Black folks, not only at Brown but also in the national and world arenas. Following a festive buffet dinner and remarks from President Christina Paxson, President Simmons will deliver a keynote address. The evening will conclude with a student a cappella performance.
Funk Nite
10 pm – 12:30 am
Groove to the best music of the ’70s through today at this revival of a popular Brown tradition. Snacks and cash bar available. Don’t forget to wear your entry pass (a.k.a. your name tag)!