Graduate Commencement
Speakers
Lewis & Clark Graduate School Commencement: Sunday, June 4, 2017
Guest Commencement Speaker 2017, Robin DiAngelo
Academic: I received my PhD in Multicultural Education from the University of Washington in Seattle in 2004. Dr. James Banks was my dissertation Chair. I earned tenure at Westfield State University in 2014. I have taught courses in Multicultural Teaching, Inter-group Dialogue Facilitation, Cultural Diversity & Social
Professional: I have been a consultant and trainer for over 20 years on issues of racial and social justice. I was appointed to co-design the City of Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative Anti-Racism training (with Darlene Flynn). I have worked with a wide-range of organizations including private, non-profit, and governmental.
Personal: “I grew up poor and white. While my class oppression has been relatively visible to me, my race privilege has not. In my efforts to uncover how race has shaped my life, I have gained deeper insight by placing race in the center of my analysis and asking how each of my other group locations have socialized me to collude with racism. In so doing, I have been able to address in greater depth my multiple locations and how they function together to hold racism in place. I now make the distinction that I grew up poor and white, for my experience of poverty would have been different had I not been white” (DiAngelo, 2006).
From the Portland Mercury: Fragile and White: What the Woman Who Invented the Term “White Fragility” Thinks About Trump
Student Commencement Speaker 2017, L Pearson MA ’16
L Pearson received her Master of Arts in Professional Mental Health Counseling in December of 2016. She is currently a mobile crisis counselor at Project Respond; a relief counselor at Men’s Residential Center; and one of the co-founders of Agate Psychotherapy.
“I am passionate about living in a world that is safe for all,” Pearson says of the trajectory of her work. “The opportunities afforded to me are the direct result of the dedicated work of so many others.”Pearson credits her gratitude for these opportunities as the main reason that she has felt compelled to act throughout most of her adult life, from participating in street protests to conducting academic research pertaining to youth experiencing homelessness. Today her work is centered on supporting her communities as they move towards healing and liberation.Prior to attending Lewis & Clark’s Graduate School of Education and Counseling, Pearson received her Bachelor of Science at Portland State University.