SUNY Geneseo will be hosting the third annual Consortium on High Achievement and Success (CHAS) Women of Color Conference March 4-6.
“We’re very excited to be hosting this important conference this year,” said Fatima Rodriguez Johnson, assistant dean of students for multicultural programs and services. “We have about 125 registered to attend, who will hear a series of engaging keynote speakers and participate in dynamic workshops. We want to facilitate dialogue that examines how selective liberal arts experiences impact women of color. The goal is to lead higher education toward inclusive excellence through institutional transformation in promoting the high achievement and success of women of color.”
SUNY Geneseo has been a member of CHAS for over four years, and this will be the first event Geneseo is hosting for CHAS.
A plethora of events are scheduled for the conference, including concurrent workshops, a CHAS networking session, and individual and institutional action plans breakout sessions.
Keynote speakers on Saturday will include Minneapolis poet Andrea Jenkins, Pakistani American filmmaker and artist Mara Ahmed, and local poet, actress, writer and educator Reenah Golden from Rochester.
Jenkins, Ahmed and Golden’s work will serve to enhance the theme behind the Women of Color Conference. Jenkins’ work is like a collage, principally utilizing paper and mixed media to raise awareness to inequality issues faced by African Americans, women and transgender women. The juxtaposition that occurs in Ahmed’s work—including the portrayal of such opposites as men and women—is also meant to open doors for change. Golden uses the power of words, page and stage to publicly affect social and political change and create new ways of thinking.
The Rochester based dance and theater company FuturPointe Dance will be the featured dance showcase Sunday morning. The company is committed to connecting diverse communities in innovative and meaningful ways through imaginative artistic collaborations and production and movement invention.