Student Services
Student Services Annual Conference 2021
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Conference Objectives
- To create a sense of urgency and to empower the student services division to “do the right thing” in serving our African American/Black students more adequately.
- To highlight black excellence, apply an asset-based framework and to validate students as creators of knowledge and as valuable members of the college learning community.
- To create a meaningful, safe, and brave place to discuss race.
Reading Materials & Resources
- Under the influence of … Spike Lee’s film ‘Do The Right Thing
- Equity 2.0
- Courageous Conversations Protocol
- Black Lives Matter Action Plan
- Three Handouts from Dr. Rogéair Purnell
- Minnijean Brown-Trickey: the teenager who needed an armed guard to go to school
Be ready for lunchtime entertainment with DJ HellaGood!
Domingo Reynolds (AKA DJ HellaGood) started spinning records in 1996. He is also known
as MC Spidey in the Bay Area from his work with the Oakland-based hip hop crew, Psychokinetics.
Psychokinetics has earned comparisons to OutKast and Common, and their superb writing
skills that have earned them a John Lennon Songwriting Award and a Finalist Spot in
The Independent Music Awards. SF Weekly describes the group as one that pushes the
boundaries of what one expects from underground hip hop by weaving in funk, soul,
and electronica.
DJ HellaGood has a loyal following and a reputation for both his spinning skills and his rap artistry.
Conference Program
Speaker Biographies
Raven Hayes, Foothill Student
Raven Hayes is currently a second-year Foothill student studying psychology. She is
a strong advocate in mental health awareness and a black activist. Her plans are to
transfer to a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) this fall and plans
to attend medical school in the future with long term aspirations to be a doctor.
Dr. Rogéair D. Purnell, President and CEO of RDP Consulting
Dr. Rogéair D. Purnell is a researcher, evaluator, facilitator, and former grantmaker.
She has designed, led and consulted on numerous high-profile studies and projects
focused on advancing opportunity, promoting success, and catalyzing change. She is
leveraged for her ability to navigate diverse communities, boards, businesses, and
industries, including K-16 education, philanthropic foundations, and governmental
agencies. And her intellectual commitment to unbiased analyses strengthens partnerships
and equips organizations with sound insights for establishing and achieving significant
milestones. Prior to becoming a consultant, she worked for non- and for-profit organizations
where she effectively managed difficult conversations and built consensus. She thrives
when collaborating with her client partners to ensure justice. Dr. Rogéair Purnell
launched RDP Consulting in 2009 to offer culturally competent, equity driven, and
asset-based research, evaluation, and coaching to nonprofit and philanthropic leaders.
She brings over twenty-five years of professional experience as a program director,
grantmaker, researcher, evaluator, and facilitator. As a director, she coordinated
a program for 16 to 20-year-olds who had left high school to complete community college
courses to earn both college credit and a high school diploma. As a program officer,
she supported efforts to improve high school completion rates and postsecondary opportunities
for low-income youth. As a research associate with both for- and non-profit research
organizations, Dr. Purnell helped design and implement research on and evaluation
of initiatives to improve employment and health, to prevent teen pregnancy, and to
increase completion rates for community college students. Dr. Purnell holds a Bachelor
of Arts degree in Psychology from Stanford University, as well as a master’s degree
in social work and a doctoral degree in social work and social psychology from the
University of Michigan. In 2008, she was selected as one of the 45 Faces of A Better
Chance, an organization dedicated to substantially increasing the number of people
of color who are capable of assuming positions of responsibility and leadership in
U.S. society.
Dr. Darrick Smith, Professor,
University of San Francisco
Dr. Darrick Smith is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University
of San Francisco and Co-Director of the School of Education’s new Transformative School
Leadership (TSL) program. His research interests are culturally responsive discipline
practices; critical pedagogy; transformative school leadership, and social justice
schooling. Dr. Smith is the founder and former Director of the TryUMF program in Oakland,
CA and formerly served as the Co-Director/Principal of the June Jordan School for
Equity in San Francisco. He has served as a trainer and administrative coach in local
school districts as well a Center Director under the Foundation for California Community
Colleges- the system for which he still consults as a trainer for the statewide Professional
Learning Network. Nationally, Dr. Smith also currently serves as a national consultant
for the Now is the Time Technical Assistance (NITT-TA) Center funded through the U.S.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Internationally,
Dr. Smith serves as a professor to practitioners serving within the East Asian Regional
Council of Overseas Schools and recently served as a lecturer and scientific reviewer
for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO)
12 the International Summer School in Warsaw, Poland. Dr. Smith’s pathway has led
him to speak at a number of national and statewide conferences on issues of educational
reform as well as work in California’s correctional facilities while maintain his
lifelong dedication to resistance efforts in the Greater Bay Area of Northern California.
Such experience has shaped both his research agenda and his pedagogy for the last
20 years.
Minnijean Brown-Trickey
In 1957, Minnijean Brown-Trickey changed history by striding through the front doors
of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. As a member of the Little Rock Nine,
she helped desegregate public schools—a milestone in civil rights history—and alter
the course of education in America. Her talks are a sweeping exploration of social
change and a reminder that the fight is far from over.
In the autumn of 1957, Minnijean Brown-Trickey took her rightful place in what had previously been a whites-only school. In front of a worldwide television audience, she walked past armed guards and an angry mob to help set America on the path toward desegregation in public schools. Incredibly, this was just the beginning of her fiery career as a social activist.
For her work, she has received the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, the Spingarn Medal, the Wolf Award, and a medal from the W.E.B. DuBois Institute, among other citations. Under the Clinton administration, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior, for diversity. She has also appeared in two acclaimed documentaries: Journey to Little Rock: The Untold Story of Minnijean Brown Trickey and HBO’s Little Rock: 50 Years Later.
In her adult life, Brown-Trickey continues to be an activist for minority rights. She lived in Canada for a number of years in the 1980s and 1990s, getting involved in First Nations activism and studying social work at Laurentian University.
If you would like to hear Minnijean Brown-Trickey speak again, this time with a Q&A session with students, please join the college-wide webinar the evening of the conference on Feb. 25 from 6 -7:30 p.m. Please see {insert link} for details
Additional Optional Sessions