Texas A&M University made its presence felt in downtown Fort Worth last week as scores of students, faculty and staff clad in maroon “Be Fearless” T-shirts took part in the 30th Annual National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE 2017).
While Texas A&M participated in the conference in previous years, the university co-sponsored the event, which serves as a national forum for discussion, critical dialogue and exchange of information, for the first time this year. The conference welcomed nearly 3,000 participants, representing more than 1,000 higher education institutions, non-profit agencies and governmental entities, who engaged in 350 sessions featuring 700 speakers. This year’s NCORE conference had the second-largest attendance and participation rate in three decades, which reflects the community’s responsiveness to and engagement in creating social equality, said conference organizers.
“Over 120 Texas A&M student leaders, faculty, staff and administrators brought the Aggie spirit to the 2017 Annual National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) in American Higher Education this year in Fort Worth, Texas, showing academic and nonprofit institutions around the country that Aggies are well positioned to lead in diversity and inclusion,” Vice President and Associate Provost for Diversity Christine Stanley said. “We will continue to reaffirm and use our core values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service into the future, because each student leader, faculty, staff and administrator who participated and led sessions at the conference are committed and more energized to make Texas A&M a more welcoming, affirming and inclusive place to all.”
Stanley also welcomed conference attendees at the Opening Reception and Talent Showcase. With much excitement, she spoke about Texas A&M’s passion for and commitment to inclusion through the Aggie core values – most notably those of respect, excellence, leadership and integrity.
This year marked another first for the university, as it was able to gather a large group of more than 80 thought leaders and experts from across campus to provide perspectives and present research on race and inclusion.
Notable Texas A&M speakers included Stanley, Director for Climate Enhancement Initiatives Nancy Watson, and Office of Organization Development and Diversity Initiatives Assistant Director Nancy Hutchins, among many others.
Texas A&M led discussions on mentoring women and minorities in STEM fields, peer leadership, accountability in the hiring process and experiences of minority students at predominantly white institutions.
