College campuses, like our nation, are experiencing significant challenges when grappling with divisions across social and political lines, impacting how we engage and often avoid one another. 

Join us for a discussion with Michael S. Roth, President from Wesleyan University who has engaged head-on, some of the most contentious issues of our time. In this conversation, we will explore how higher education leaders can model engagement around the tensions facing our divided campuses and society, with greater empathy, while embracing discomfort.  Leaders today should not retreat from addressing truths about societal discrimination, but seek to create campus cultures where students are better equipped to work and live in a society where all are valued, validated and empowered.

Moderated by Dr. Alford A. Young, Jr. this conversation will explore how one academic leader uses his positionality and voice to model a principled and values-based approach to working across differences and divides.


Dr. Alford A. Young, Jr. Associate Director of Center for Social Solutions; University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, Arthur F Thurnau Professor; Edgar G. Epps Collegiate Professor of Sociology; Professor of Afroamerican and African Studies; Professor of Public Policy

Michael S. Roth President, Wesleyan University