Drs. Warren Anderson, Lisa Coleman, and Michael Anthony speaking on the President's panel at NADOHE.Photos by Tim Trumble
The concluding panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Warren Anderson from Bradley University, featured Dr. Michael D. Anthony, the first African American president of Prairie State College, and Dr. Lisa Coleman, the first female and first Black president of Adler University.
Coleman, who has over three decades of experience in inclusion work, emphasized the importance of strong communications and media representation in defending DEI efforts.
"What I see is the evolution of a diversity equity inclusion field from multiculturalism to liberalism to diversity," she noted, adding that leaders must determine their own risk tolerance and that of their institutions when navigating these challenges.
Anthony, who leads Prairie State College—both a Predominantly Black Institution and Hispanic-serving Institution about 30 miles from Chicago—highlighted the increasingly polarized context in which DEI work takes place.
"We've been under attack around the federal government... with citizens becoming more cynical, hostile, and divided," he observed, stressing the importance of critical thinking in an era of fast, subjective media.
Following the panel discussion, Dr. Clyde Wilson Pickett, vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion at the University of Pittsburgh and board chairman of NADOHE shared a personal story about his great-grandmother that embodied the spirit of responsibility central to DEI work. He recounted how his great-grandmother, just one generation removed from slavery, would pick up garbage along the streets of her neighborhood every day after working a full day as a domestic worker.
