Award-winning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) thought leader, CNN political analyst and author Sophia Nelson closed out her week-long visit to Oakland University’s campus with a discussion with student leaders.
The “Unification Day of Student Leadership Lunch-n-Learn Roundtable Talks” was hosted on April 5 in O’Dowd Hall room 204. All OU and Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine (OUWB) community members were welcome.
“We thought ending her residency here would be great with a very intimate roundtable discussion and opportunity for our student leaders… to just have some time to dialogue,” Tonya Bailey, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Foundational Medical Studies and Associate Dean for Diversity & Inclusion and Community Engagement at OUWB, said.
Nelson discussed solutions to social issues, strategies for promoting DEI and global education and how to support one another through unity and inclusivity with the diverse room of attendees.
“Whatever your thoughts are on diversity, equity and inclusion, I think we can all agree that the world we live in is diverse. In 2030, America will be a majority-minority country. And that’s why we got this going on. There’s a lot of tension. There’s a lot of fear,” Nelson said. “You’re young, and you have everything ahead of you, and I want to encourage you to remember rooms like this and to remember your peers and your colleagues and listen, ask questions, and learn things about one another. Encourage one another.”
Nelson also emphasized the importance of taking care of each other by taking care of oneself first. She highlighted self-care practices such as interpersonal in-person connections rather than online connections, creating healthy habits with sleep and nutrition while young, and embracing one’s identity.
“Somewhere along the way, we kind of stopped talking and engaging and putting an emphasis on the value of that family time and that connectivity, and some of you have been through all kinds of things that you don’t even talk about,” she said. “Your generation deals with more social anxiety, ADHD, depression, loneliness, isolation and suicide at levels we have never seen in the history of this republic, and they trace all of that back to the isolation of the devices.”
“Be authentically you. Know your value. Whoever you are, whatever you look like, whoever you love, whoever you worship — be bold and brave about that, not disrespectful to anybody else,” she added.
Additionally, Nelson encouraged students to consistently ask themselves, “What do I want?” “What do I need?” and “How am I feeling?” to improve their physical and mental states.
“Every time you get on an airplane, the airline stewardess says to you, ‘Put your mask on first,’” she said. “You’ve got to secure you first, because once you’re breathing, then you can make sure everybody else is breathing.”
Leaders from various organizations attended to learn more about diversity, equity and inclusion.
“I’m very passionate about diversity, inclusion and human rights, and I felt like this [event] would be a great place to meet people and to learn some more useful things,” Mathew Seidel, president of OU’s chapter of the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, said. “I liked what she mentioned about phone usage.”
Meredith Parks, a recent OU graduate and representative of Meadow Brook Hall, expressed a similar sentiment.
“I work a lot with our student TSAs, and I wanted to [come] here and just listen and learn to see how we can increase wellness and diversity over at Meadow Brook,” Parks said. “I really like the check-in questions because I think those are good on a personal level. Everyone should do that.”
Nelson praised the diversity efforts and leadership on OU’s campus.
“I get to go to a lot of universities… I’ve never been to a school, and I mean this sincerely, where I’ve been in rooms like this consistently,” she said. “They’ve been diverse, truly, and that is a hallmark and testament to the leadership at this school.”
