News by Topic: Diversity

Two renowned photographers of extraordinary moments in history—RIT Assistant Professor Joshua Rashaad McFadden and Matthew Willman—will co-present their captivating work during an event on campus this week.

RIT will confer honorary degrees to four outstanding individuals at its 2022 commencement ceremony on May 6: Kimberly Bryant, founder of the nonprofit organization Black Girls CODE; Josephine King Olsen, former director of the Peace Corps; G. Peter Jemison, a member of the Heron clan of the Seneca Nation of Indians; and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine.

WHAM-TV features photographic and imaging arts student Sydney Lewandowski.

RIT honored the service and dedication of its employees with the Presidential Awards for Outstanding Staff ceremony March 31. The annual awards are presented to staff members who exemplify outstanding service and dedication to the university and who exhibit a high degree of personal ethics and integrity while consistently demonstrating a strong commitment to student success.

From robot waiters to river otters, RIT’s Graduate Showcase will cover a wide variety of topics representing graduate scholarship from the university’s Henrietta and global campuses. The symposium, held April 7, will feature oral presentations in the morning and poster presentations, demonstrations, and visual exhibitions in the afternoon.

RIT will highlight graduate student scholarship during the 14th annual Graduate Education Week and Showcase, April 4–8. The theme of this year’s symposium is “Redefining Possibilities–Graduate Students on the Move.”

NTID’s Department of Performing Arts presents its production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical In The Heights, April 15-17, at Panara Theatre, Lyndon Baines Johnson Hall. Directed by Principle Lecturer Luane Davis Haggerty, NTID’s production features deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing actors performing on stage simultaneously.

Jahaad Shairi, a School of Film and Animation sophomore, has been selected as a 2022 CIEE Frederick Douglass Global Fellow—an honor awarding him a full scholarship to represent RIT at a four-week leadership program for students of color that is set in Ireland and focused on peace, social justice, and conflict resolution.

WXXI interviews Denise Kavin, assistant dean for outreach, placement and special projects at NTID, about the movie CODA.

WHEC-TV interviews Lisa DeWindt-Sommer, senior counselor/academic advisor at NTID, and her daughter, RIT student and CODA Kaitlin Sommer, about the movie CODA.

The New York Times interviews RIT/NTID faculty researcher Wendy Dannels and human-computer interaction graduate student Roshan Mathew about assistive technology for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

RIT’s College of Liberal Arts spring production, Men On Boats, opens at 7:30 p.m. tonight with additional performances at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday in Webb Auditorium in James E. Booth Hall.