Last Updated on January 25, 2022 by Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo Region
KOKOMO, Ind. – Internationally recognized author, educator and researcher Dr. Tricia Rose will serve as the keynote speaker for Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo’s 18th annual “Doing the Dream” programs honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Rose will speak at the event’s virtual student convocation Feb. 10 and at a community banquet set for Feb. 11 on the Ivy Tech Kokomo campus.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Rose to Kokomo and pleased to continue a tradition of bringing in speakers who challenge us to confront the difficult issues of race, privilege and the movement toward equality,” said Kelly Karickhoff, executive director of resource development for Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Service Area and a member of the “Doing the Dream” committee. “Both programs will offer a powerful message and honor Dr. King’s vision of peace, unity and service.”
Rose is a native New Yorker who now serves Brown University in Providence, R.I., as Chancellor’s Professor of Africana Studies, associate dean of the faculty for special initiatives and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. She is the author of three highly regarded books and the recipient of numerous awards for her teaching and scholarship, including recognition from the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the American Association of University Women.
“Doing the Dream 2022” will include a free statewide virtual student convocation open to high school and college students from 1 to 1:45 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, and the annual community banquet, to be held for the first time in Hingst Hall, Ivy Tech Kokomo’s new community room, starting at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11.
Tickets are now on sale for the evening banquet that annually brings leaders from throughout the community together with the distinguished speaker to address issues of national importance. Individual tickets are $50 each and are available through Feb.1, unless sold out earlier. More information is available at ivytech.edu/doingthedream or by contacting Miriam Thomas, Ivy Tech Kokomo resource development director, at mlthomas@ivytech.edu or 765-252-5500.
Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) is again serving as lead sponsor to support participation by a noted speaker for the “Doing the Dream” events. Other sponsors include Community Howard Regional Health, Security Federal, Ascension St. Vincent, the City of Kokomo, Duke Energy, Haynes International, Howard County government, Indiana American Water and Indiana University Kokomo.
At the community banquet, Rose will examine what’s happened in the 18 months since the death of George Floyd in a presentation titled “Systemic Racism: What it is and why it matters.” She says that while many people, communities and organizations have made strong commitments to tackling barriers to equitable opportunity for all people, a comprehensive understanding of those obstacles is required if we are to make significant change.
“One of these impediments is systemic racism,” she said. “Another is the will to fight for what is right, the kind of will and moral commitment to which Martin L. King Jr. dedicated his life.”
In her presentation, Rose will share her research on systemic racism in America. She will address key ideas and beliefs that can hide and fuel its devastating outcomes and how, by exposing these forces at work, we can develop the tools we need to propel us – once and for all – toward a more just society.
“Storytelling for Justice” will be Rose’s topic at the free student convocation that will be offered via Zoom from 1 to 1:45 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10. Noting that storytelling is a deeply human activity that shapes identities, reinforces values (good and bad) and provides hope, Rose said Dr. King was acutely aware of the power of stories to fuel real change. In her presentation, she will explore the role of popular culture in society today in telling our stories and consider how the stories about race, gender and justice shape us and our communities.
The convocation is geared toward college students and high school juniors and seniors and is open to school groups, home schoolers and individual students. For information, contact Allison Toren, General Studies program chair, at atoren@ivytech.edu or 765-252-5518 or Dani McQuaide, director of Student Life, at dmcquaide@ivytech.edu or 765-252-5493.
Karickhoff noted that since 2005, Ivy Tech Kokomo’s ‘Doing the Dream: A Cultural Celebration’ has been an annual event for the community and local students designed to embrace and celebrate cultural diversity as expressed by Dr. King. “Over the last 17 years, we estimate more than 27,000 people – school children, high school and college students, teachers and faculty members, religious and civic leaders, and community members – have participated in ‘Doing the Dream’ activities,” she said.
SOURCE: News release from Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo Region