Salukis United for Diversity | Conference Services | SIU

April 20-22, 2017

The “Salukis United for Diversity” event highlights and celebrates the importance of diversity and inclusivity on our campus. The kick-off includes a ‘Unity March’ held by student groups to demonstrate support for international and underrepresented students, faculty, and staff on campus. The march will end at the area near Shryock Auditorium where a campus-wide celebration led by Chancellor Colwell will occur with food with music. Day two’s events offer multiple opportunities to participate in ‘Safe Zone’ trainings in the River rooms of the Student Center followed by the showing of a documentary on race relations in the U.S. The final day, April 22, features a lecture by Keith Boykin, internationally known MSNBC commentator and New York Times best-selling author, followed by an awards ceremony and reception.

Keynote Speaker:
Keith Boykin is a CNBC contributor, MSNBC commentator, BET columnist, and New York Times best-selling author. He is also the former editor of the online news site, The Daily Voice.

Each of Keith’s four books has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, including his most recent book, For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Still Not Enough, which won the American Library Association Stonewall Award for Nonfiction in 2013.

He has appeared on numerous national media programs, including Anderson Cooper 360, The O’Reilly Factor, The Tyra Banks Show, The Montel Williams Show, Judge Hatchett and The Tom Joyner Morning Show.

A founder and first board president of the National Black Justice Coalition, Keith has spoken to audiences, large and small, all across the world. He delivered a landmark speech to 200,000 people at the Millennium March on Washington and he gave a stirring speech about the AIDS epidemic in front of 40,000 people in Chicago’s Soldier Field in July 2006.

Educated at Dartmouth and Harvard, Keith attended law school with President Barack Obama and served in the White House as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton, where he was once the highest ranking openly gay person in the Clinton White House. He also helped organize and participated in the nation’s first ever meeting between a sitting president and leaders of the LGBT community.

Keith has been actively involved in progressive causes since he worked on his first congressional campaign while still a student in high school. He is a veteran of six political campaigns, including two presidential campaigns, and he was named one of the top instructors when he taught political science at American University in Washington.

Keynote Speaker Program Location: Student Center Ballrooms, SIU Carbondale

Registration Deadline: April 21, 2017

To Register:

• Please visit the following link to register for Salukis United for Diversity Lecture on April 22, 2017: Stand up for Diversity Lecture Registration
• No registration is required to attend the additional events listed above: the Unity March, Safe Zone Trainings or Documentary.