Dominican's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, in partnership with the Office of the President, invited Dominican alumni, to join faculty, staff and students for an online event held on Thursday, January 27, 2022, featuring Dr. Stacey Patton, Assistant Professor, Communications, Howard University. This is the first in a series of speakers leading up to the inauguration of Nicola Pitchford.

Dr. Patton presented on "Uniting Our Voices in Troubling Times: The Power of Storytelling in Teaching and Effective Community Engagement." 

"Uniting Our Voices in Troubling Times: The Power of Storytelling in Teaching and Effective Community Engagement" as we enter a third year of the Covid-19 pandemic along with economic uncertainty, political divisions, and ongoing calls for racial equity, colleges and universities across America are having much-needed discussions about social justice and community engagement. In this historic moment, many people are feeling politically impotent, unheard, and are worried that the future of their communities are being shaped by outsiders. So, in these troubling times, it is important for students, faculty, and staff to apply classroom knowledge and research to real-world problems and capture the spirit of diverse groups of people who have long felt like they don’t have a voice and a hand in shaping life for themselves and future generations.

Dr. Stacey Patton, a community activist and journalism professor at Howard University will share what she has learned while teaching Millennials and Gen Z students about using storytelling and new technologies to engage communities in reciprocal collaborations around public health challenges. She will also share candid advice about how true teaching and scholarship that serves the public requires us to be humble lifelong students who practice authenticity and vulnerability, who check our own biases, and learn to see ourselves and others beyond deficit models while audaciously discarding old scripts and models that don’t serve us.