Voices that Matter

​A new series on CMU's campus - begun virtually during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders - which centers the voices of community members and concerns sometimes marginalized by economic and social circumstance.

VOICES THAT MATTER Fall 2020

Fall 2020 Episode 6

What is in your cup?

Facilitator

Danay Gore, Undergraduate Student, ODE

Panelists:

• Tasha Gore, Clinical Social Worker
  
• Johnnie Johnson, CMU Senior 
  
• Mathew King, CMU Student
  
• Ashley Watters, Counselor, CMU Counseling Center
  
• Ahsha Davis, Graduate Student, CMU
  

Fall 2020 Episode 5

Indigenous Peoples' Day "Back to Our Indigenous Roots" pt 2 

Facilitator

Mimi Gonzalez- Barillas, Communications Specialist, OID

Panelists: 

• Erik Torske (Nahau), CMU Student
• Ayebah Wilson (Navajo), CMU Student
• Cicilee Chivis (Ojibwe/Odawa), CMU Student
• Colleen Green Director, Native American Programs/STEP
  
• Shannon Martin (Ojibwe/ Potawatomi), Zibiwing Center Director
  
• Dr. Adam Haviland (Anishinabe), Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College Faculty
  

Facilitator

Fall 2020 Episode 4 

Hispanic Heritage Month Part 1 "Healing From Our Colonial Past"

Facilitator

Mimi Gonzalez- Barillas, Communications Specialist, OID

Panelists:

• Dr. Jonathan Truitt, Colonial Latin American Historian, Central Michigan University
  
• Julio Velasco, Graduate Student, Mass Office 
  
• Dr. Alejandra Rengifo, World Languages and Cultures
  
• Dr. Itzel Marquez, School of Engineering and Technologies 
  
• Dr. Luis Perez, Professor of Strategy, Department Management/ Chairperson
  

Fall 2020 Episode 3:

Black Womanhood in the age of Kamala Harris 

Facilitator

Dr. Nikita Murry, Director, Diversity Education

Panelists:

• Rhonda Welsh, Executive Director, Detroit Outreach
  
• Jasmine Holmes, Assistant Director, Competitive Sports, University Creation 
  
• Kayla Harber-Bates, Assistant Director, Undergraduate Admissions
  
• Mary Henley, Director Michigan Gear Up/ Pathways to Academic Student Success
  
• Dr. Dawn Ottley Nelson, Professor, Division of Audiology (Au.D.)
  
• Andrea Jasper, Faculty, Counseling and Special Education
  

Fall 2020 Episode 2:

A Conversation on Building Allies in the White Community

Facilitator 

Dr. Nikita Murry, Director, Diversity Education

Panelists:

• Dr. A.T. Miller, Former Vice President/ CDO, Office for Institutional Diversity
• Aria Segura (They, Them), Sophomore, Music Major, Central Michigan University
• Tony Stamas, President and CEO of Midland Business Alliance
• Laura Gourlay, School Councilor, Mount Pleasant Public Schools

Fall 2020 Episode 1: 

A Conversation with Black Men About Uncomfortable Matters

Stan Shingles, AVP/Univ. Rec Student Engagement/Interim CDO

Panelists:

• Damon Brown, Director/Student Activities, Involvement
• Kevin Williams, Dir. Undergraduate Recruitment, Admissions
• James Span, Jr., Dir. Multicultural Academic Student Svcs.
• Jonathan Glenn, Asst. Dir. Leadership Institute
• Isaiah Oliver, CMU Board of Trustees, alum
• Alan Jones, Assoc. Dir. Residence Life

Spring 2020 Episode 1:
A Conversation About the Impact of COVID-19 on the Black Community

Facilitator

Dr. Nikita Murry, Director, Diversity Education

Panelists:

• Martez Coleman, CMU Undergraduate Student
• Helen Egwu, Graduate Student, ODE OID
• Bryce Huffman, Michigan Public Radio journalist and CMU alum
• Isaiah Oliver, CMU Trustee and Alum