Media & Appearancesa

I first saw Chad when he delivered one of the most compelling presentations about broadening the participation of minoritized students in STEM that I had ever heard. The way he masterfully threaded criminal sociology with the culture of undergraduate STEM education fundamentally changed how I view my work. Later, as I got to know Chad, I found him to be authentic, wholly committed, and full of energy – nothing short of an inspiration. He lives the work that he does! As a keynote speaker for several of AAC&U’s STEM institutes and conferences, Chad has always been well-received, offering attendees a provocative look into their motivations and desires for a more diverse and competitive STEM workforce and challenging them to confront not only the systems and structures of oppression in STEM but also themselves.

I wanted to reach back out and let you know what an impact that you had here at Wake Tech. Based on conversations you lead, we were able to implement a START (STEM Academic Research & Training) Ambassador program. In this program former START Interns (those conducting undergraduate research) were trained in the art of storytelling, mentored to develop their story around START, and then invited into various math and science classrooms to share their stories. We were awarded an internal grant to compensate those ambassadors for their time. Because of you we plan to install the ambassador portion as a permanent part of our program.

Upon hearing his lecture, I have worked hard with the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at the University of Connecticut to bring Dr. Starks for a visit. He will deliver a keynote speech where participants will “get uncomfortable, to get comfortable,” as Dr. Starks puts it, by speaking truth to power in STEM and engaging the audience with community science concepts. He will also facilitate a dialogue of similar topics with graduate and faculty members of our UConn STEM community. From this visit, I am hopeful that keynote participants will take away newfound value for community science and that dialogue attendees will feel empowered to continue these discussions and organize to actualize change.