News
Taj Smith

The second annual Together RIT: A Day of Dialogue is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, with this year’s programming centered on gender and sexuality. Together RIT gathers the campus community and creates space to ask questions, empathize, build solidarity, and give recognition to the current and future social issues.

A campuswide event will return with a new focus when Together RIT: A Day of Dialogue takes place on Friday, Oct. 20. Students, faculty, staff, and alumni can now submit proposals to present at the second annual Together RIT. The deadline is June 30.

Nearly 30 events varying from interactive lectures to film screenings to a PC game-testing session are planned for the inaugural Together RIT: A Day of Understanding, Solidarity, and Racial Reconciliation on Friday, Oct. 21.

RIT will host a new event for campus community members to engage in intentional and honest dialogue about race, ethnicity, and racism. The inaugural Together RIT: A Day of Understanding, Solidarity, and Racial Reconciliation will take place from noon to 4 p.m. on Oct. 21. All RIT students, faculty, staff, and alumni are invited to submit proposals for presentations by June 30.

WXXI’s “Connections” program features Taj Smith, director of diversity education.

RIT is launching a social media campaign to urge members of the RIT community to take a stand against racism, demonstrate ways to be antiracist, or explain what steps they will take to become antiracist.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, RIT’s Division of Diversity and Inclusion wanted to create a way for faculty and staff to connect with people from different backgrounds despite the limitations that come with physical distancing. In April, they launched the “What’s Your Diversity” program, a weekly storytelling and dialogue hour held via Zoom that allowed RIT faculty and staff to share how diversity impacts their lives.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 35: It’s been said that diversity happens when people of different backgrounds share space in a community, but inclusion only happens when they spend quality time together. Taj Smith, director of diversity education, talks with Stephanie Rankin, director of foundation relations, about her participation in the Breaking Bread program.

Guest essay by Christopher Hinesley, assistant director, Center for Campus Life, and Taj Smith, director of Diversity Education, Office for Diversity and Inclusion, published on page 11 of Insight Into Diversity.