First ever diversity leadership conference held Saturday

By Staff reports

This Saturday, the first annual Diversity Leadership Conference with the theme of (De)constructing Diversity in the Bay Area will be hosted by Santa Clara from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The conference will feature keynote speaker Jeff Chang, who has lectured at colleges and universities around the world, was named USA Ford Fellow in Literature, is one of "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World," is the author of Can't Stop Won't Stop, and is the founding editor of ColorLines magazine.

The event will begin with a breakfast and welcome introduction by President Michael Engh and Plenary Session at Locatelli Center, and consist of several sessions of three workshops with presenters on various topics from social capital and academic success, equality in the role of education, and the understanding of diversity on college campuses.

A wide array of these topics and more will be covered and presented by students from numerous colleges and universities around the Bay Area, including UC Berkeley, Mills College, UC Santa Cruz, University of San Francisco, UC Davis, Stanford, and Santa Clara.

In addition to workshops, the conference will feature performances during lunch, followed by a post-workshop student session and a roundtable discussion concluding with the Keynote speaker.