Social Justice Alliance Holds Fourth Annual Symposium

Panelists to Address Racism and Other Social Ills

 

MEDIA CONTACT: David Thompson, dlthompson@bowiestate.edu, 301-860-4311

(BOWIE, Md.) – The Social Justice Alliance, a collaboration of the University of Maryland and Bowie State University, will host its fourth annual symposium at the Riggs Alumni Center on the UMD campus in College Park on Friday, April 22, at 12:00 p.m. The theme of the symposium, Healing from Hate:  Advancing Racially-Equitable Policies,  will be amplified during a panel discussion featuring university, community, and policy leaders focused on individual and community healing, racism, and racially-equitable social and public policy. 

The moderator of the panel will be Dr. Ayanna Lynch, assistant professor of psychology at Bowie State. Panelists include Raheela Ahmed, UMD alumna, candidate for MD State Senate, District 23; Aisha Braveboy, Prince George’s County State Attorney; Jazz Lewis, UMD alumnus, Maryland Delegate, District 4 and chair of the Democratic Caucus; JaTiya Stewart, BSU SGA president; Darren Swain, BSU National Alumni Association President; and Joshua Winston, UMD student.

Marc Morial, President of the National Urban League, will be honored by the Alliance with the Social Justice Trailblazer Award for his decades of work raising the awareness of social injustices, and working with businesses, government, and community organizations to eradicate the unequal treatment of black, brown, LGBTQ, disabled, and other disenfranchised people in America. Other awardees include: Whitney Clarke (UMD) and Victoria Williams (BSU, Students of the Year; Dr. Charles Adams (BSU) and Dr. Monica Kearney (UMD), Faculty Members of the Year; and Dr. Kimetta Hairston (BSU) and Dr. Georgina Dodge (MD) received Founders Awards.

Bowie State University (BSU), in collaboration with the University of Maryland (UMD) and the Lt. Richard Collins III Foundation, developed a Social Justice Alliance to honor the legacy of BSU alumnus Lt. Richard Collins III and promote social justice on their respective campuses. Led by faculty experts from each university, the Alliance is addressing critical issues facing campuses, communities, and the nation by engaging students and communities to bring about social change.

Lt. Collins was posthumously promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant by the U.S. Army.  He was murdered on the College Park campus in 2017 a few days before graduating from Bowie State. 

 

 

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