Symposium seeks to build bridges through storytelling

An annual celebration at Central Michigan University that highlights what makes everyone unique, aiming to bring people together by helping them see each other through the stories they have to tell.

This year’s Klymyshyn Symposium will build on its tradition of encouraging people to share their passions by focusing them into bridges between people. It will take place over three days, from Feb. 18-20, in the Bovee University Center.

“At a time when our country is searching for common ground, stories help people see one another and imagine a future they can believe in and thrive,” said Nikita Murry, director of the Center for Collaborative Learning and Engagement.

The storytelling sessions will take place over the three-day symposium. They also set the stage for a discussion on the final day about women in leadership.

“The storytelling sessions on day one invite participants to share lived experiences in ways the symposium hasn’t entered before, while the final day’s focus on women in leadership makes explicit how those stories translate into decision making and institutional change,” said Wiline Pangle, who is helping organize the symposium and leads the Integration of Science, Technology and Engineering program.

The Leadership Institute has brought together a panel of distinguished females ranging from student leaders on campus to leaders in business, community service and higher education, Murry said.

"The combination of sessions that support skill development and the leadership panel adds a nice punctuation to the end of the symposium," she said.

Other sessions will focus on skill building, higher education and supportive learning.

The symposium will feature two keynote speakers, both from the mid-Michigan area. Each has something different, but profound in its own way, to offer, Murry said.

Michael Gavin, Ph.D, the opening luncheon keynote speaker, resigned as president of Delta College last fall to focus on building a coalition to defend the value of higher education. The opening luncheon will take place at noon on the first day.

Dr. Jabbar Bennett, who will speak at the Vice President's Signature Luncheon at noon on Feb. 19, is the vice president and chief inclusion officer at Michigan State University. He is also a member of MSU’s College of Human Medicine faculty.