Communities of Color and COVID-19
Panelists
- Travis Boyce, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Africana Studies
- Rudy Vargas, MPH Candidate, Coordinator of DREAMer Engagement Program and Undocumented Student Service
- Yvette Lucero-Nguyen, MPH, Director of the Center for Women’s and Gender Equity and the Stryker Institute for Leadership Development
- Danya Carroll, MPH, member of the Navajo and Apache Tribes and an UNC Alum
- Moderator: Tobias Guzmán, Ed.D., Chief Diversity Officer and AVP of Student Affairs
In a recent webinar hosted by the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Northern Colorado the issues our communities of color have, and may continue to, experience due to the COVID-19 pandemic were addressed during this information filled event. While we have begun this conversation, this is by no means the conclusion to the discussion. As the nation continues to realize and understand the impacts of COVID-19, it is essential to recognize the impact that our communities of color will experience.
Additional professionals joined the presentation to discuss the impacts on the communities with whom they work, including Araceli Calderón de Weis, Project Manager with Centennial BOCES and Collin Cannon, Director of Advocacy with the Immigrant and Refugee Center of Northern Colorado.
Topics such as historical aspects that are emblematic of what we are seeing related to this pandemic, disparity issues, impacts on undocumented, Native, and refugee communities, health outcomes, as well as bearings this pandemic may have on our education system both K-12 impacts and post-secondary.
We encourage you to review the recording of the webinar from the viewpoint of multiple lenses – community member, educator, parent, student. Listen to what folks in our community are addressing and start conversations within your own communities. Reach out to others to continue the work that you see is needed now, and be proactive in your thinking of additional needs that may arise. The full impact this pandemic will have on education, financial viability, physical, emotional and social health is unknown at this time; however, we need to be ready to address all possible scenarios.
