By Kelsey Kendall

The Darden College of Education and Professional Studies will virtually host its 2024 ALLIED Distinguished Speaker event with Tia Brown McNair, co-author of “From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education.”

McNair will talk about her book on Tuesday, April 16 from 6-8 p.m. in the multipurpose room of the Education Building, Room 1106, and synchronously over Zoom. Those interested can register to listen virtually on the college’s website.

To attend in-person, fill out the Google Form.

McNair’s 2020 book goes over research-based practices to build an equity-minded campus culture, align strategic priorities and missions to promote equity and use data to develop inclusive strategies. McNair co-authored the book with Estela Mara Bensimon and Lindsey E. Malcom-Piqueux.

The book includes advice for colleges and universities on how to be “student ready,” which outlines the steps an institution can take to support students and higher-level success. 

McNair will also talk about her book “Becoming a Student Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success.”

“Oftentimes, when we talk about goals to support the diversity of our student population, those goals are aspirational, and that’s the talk part,” McNair said. “What we want to do is work with institutions so that’s not performative but is actually based in practice.”

Her goal is to have participants during the event walk away asking the questions:

  • What does it mean to be student-ready leaders?
  • What does ODU already do to support students and the campus community?
  • What are the opportunities for improvement?  

Darden College’s Critical Conversations in Education series, guided this year by ALLIED, started in 2020 and is set up to engage participants in honest and insightful discussions about equity and opportunity in educational institutions.

“The ALLIED committee really is about taking action,” Brett Cook-Snell, the committee director, said. “What action steps can we take to help dismantle and disrupt systemic barriers in keeping with the Darden College of Education and Professional Studies complete diversity statement?”

Currently, McNair serves at the American Association of Colleges and Universities as the vice president in the Office of Diversity, Equity and Student Success and executive director for the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Centers. She oversees projects and programs on equity, high-impact practices and student success and is the project director for designing a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit.

Another title by McNair is “Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success.” She is also the editor of the upcoming book “Strengthening Campus Communities Through the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Framework,” set to be published in June.  

Last spring, McNair received an honorary degree from Franklin Pierce University for her work in advancing racial equity in support of all students’ success. The Association of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, NASPA, named her the 2024 recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Higher Education Award.