NC South Carolina Times

Winthrop University issued the following announcement on March 30.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The third annual Day of Understanding event will be on April 12 at 11 a.m. virtually. 
• Faculty and staff will have the opportunity to ask questions and then continue the conversation in 114 DiGiorgio Campus Center following the event.

ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA— Winthrop University’s third annual Day of Understanding on April 12 will feature three speakers who will share stories about experiencing biased behavior as a result of their identities.

The 11 a.m. virtual event is sponsored by Interim President George Hynd and the university’s Diversity Council to celebrate PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion. 

The speakers, who will share their Moments of Bravery, are: 

* Philip Gibson, associate professor of finance and director of certified financial planning with the College of Business Administration.

* Shelley Hamill, professor in the Department of Physical Education, Sport and Human Performance. 

* Semeka Randall Lay, head women’s basketball coach.

Each of the three has experienced biased behavior due to their gender, race, age or sexual orientation. Faculty and staff will have the opportunity to ask questions and then continue the conversation in 114 DiGiorgio Campus Center following the event.

For those interested in participating in the post-event conversation, please register here. 

“The Day of Understanding is an event that faculty and staff look forward to each year as they learn more about their colleagues and how difficult it can be to navigate a society in which biases, implicit and explicit, are still present,” said Hynd.

He added that the panelists will share very personal stories. “These stories may be hard for their colleagues to hear, but such brave moments create better understanding of others’ lived experiences,” he said. “It’s important for us to have safe spaces where these conversations can occur.”

Winthrop was the first college in South Carolina to sign the PwC CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion pledge. This diversity initiative by PwC challenges CEOs and college presidents to encourage conversations around diversity and inclusion in the workplace, provide unconscious bias training to employees, and share actions and initiatives with other CEOs/presidents in the network that have been implemented at their company/university.  

For more information, contact Judy Longshaw, news and media services manager, at longshawj@winthrop.edu.