ANNUAL

FRIENDSHIP & DIALOGUE DINNER `19

Thursday March 7th, 6:30 p.m. | Asian American Resource Center

Coming Together in an Era of Division

“History shows that at any given moment a group can find itself the target of unjust attacks in the form of policies and/or dehumanizing rhetoric at the local, state, and national level. However, a key factor limiting the ability of justice-minded parties to unite and thwart such actions is the disunity and division that exists within the social justice community. Today, it is essential that we understand those divisions and how they work, and plot a course for how whites and communities of color can come together.”

Keynote Speaker

JYARLAND DANIELS, MBA, JD

Jyarland Daniels, MBA, JD, is Founder & CEO of Harriet Speaks. Harriet Speaks is an equity & inclusion consultancy that works with individuals, educational institutions, corporations, city governments, and nonprofit organizations to increase their capacity to understand and engage in productive conversations related to equity and inclusion. Harriet Speaks has a specific emphasis on anti-black racism from both an historic and present-day perspective. Driving my approach to this work is the belief that our actions to eliminate injustice are most successful when we understand issues beyond the surface level; when we understand the “Why?” in addition to the “What?” and sparking critical thinking that leads to innovative solutions.

She has held marketing and communications roles of increasing responsibility in Fortune 500 Corporations, including Ford Motor Company, Bentley Motors, Hallmark Cards, Johnson & Johnson, and in the field of racial and social justice. Recently, she served as the Director of Marketing and Communications for the national racial justice at, Race Forward, and its news publication, Colorlines. Prior to that, she was the executive director of the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the United States designed to investigate systemic inequities.

Jyarland holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Kansas, a Master of Business Administration in Marketing & Finance from The University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and a Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School in Detroit with a focus on Education and Civil Rights Law.

Gulen Peace Award Recipient

Rev. Dr. Whitney Bodman

Whitney S. Bodman, Associate Professor of Comparative Religion, came to Austin Seminary in 2002 from Harvard Divinity School where he completed his Th.D. in Comparative Religion and Islamic Studies. A 1977 M.Div. graduate of Duke Divinity School, Dr. Bodman was ordained in the United Church of Christ and served as a congregational pastor for twelve years in Massachusetts. He is currently a participant in the National Council of Churches Jewish-Christian and Muslim-Christian dialogues as well as various local interfaith organizations. He is active in the International Society for Qur’anic Studies and the American Academy of Religion and edits the Islam section of the Religious Studies Review. Recently he was President of Texas Impact, an interfaith organization concerned with public policy in Texas. He has published The Poetics of Iblis: Narrative Theology in the Qur’an. Currently he is working on a Reader’s Guide to the Qur’an for Christians and curricula for presenting Islam to the Christian public.

Master of Ceremonies

DR. JUAN C. GONZÁLEZ

Dr. Juan C. Gonzalez is Clincal Professor in the College of Education within the Program in Higher Education Leadership (PHEL). His expertise in student affairs leadership and administration, improving the college student experience, and expanding access to higher education for first-generation college students. Juan C. González served as the Vice Chancellor-Student Affairs at UC San Diego from 2014 till the end of 2017. González’s responsibilities included the development, assessment and improvement of services that meet and support the needs of over 36,000 students. He supports UC San Diego’s vision of being a student-centered, research-focused, service-oriented public university by overseeing a wide range of student services and programs ranging from enrollment management, student academic success and retention, and student life.

González has served as vice president for Student Affairs at a number of prestigious universities spanning a 25-year period. Prior to his tenure at UC San Diego, he held the vice president position at the University of Texas at Austin, which has a student population of more than 51,000. Prior to that, he served as Vice President for Student Affairs at Arizona State University; Georgetown University; California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; and California State University, San Bernardino.