SED BBQ Brings Community Together for Evening of Reflection & Laughter
On Thursday, May 3rd, SED hosted its annual Community BBQ event, where Spring-themed foods and activities were enjoyed by students, faculty, staff and alumni alike.
The BBQ, which typically occurs roughly two weeks prior to Commencement weekend, invites members of the SED community to participate in an evening of collaborative fun featuring games, face painting, photo booths, and more.
The gathering is primarily to allow students, currently entrenched in finals and the studying required for those finals, time to unwind with their fellow peers and educators. Several important announcements are also made, such as who will be this year’s Commencement speaker as well as the recipients of the Excellence in Undergraduate and Graduate Advising awards.
To that end, Dean ad interim Dr. Catherine O’Connor shared with everyone in attendance that Dr. Na’ilah Nasir will be the speaker during next weekend’s graduation festivities. Dr. Nasir is the sixth and current President of the Spencer Foundation and a highly respected author, researcher and professor, formerly of University of California at Berkeley, primarily in the areas of race and identity. The Spencer Foundation’s site has a brief biography on her background and accomplishments:
“[Dr. Na’ilah Nasir] was a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley from 2008-2017 where she served as Vice-Chancellor of Equity and Inclusion at UC Berkeley from November 2015. Nasir earned her PhD in Educational Psychology at UCLA in 2000, and was a member of the faculty in the School of Education at Stanford University from 2000 – 2008.
Her work focuses on issues of race, culture, learning, and identity. She is the author of Racialized Identities: Race and Achievement for African-American Youth and has published numerous scholarly articles. Nasir is a member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). In 2016 she was the recipient of the AERA Division G Mentoring Award.”
Also announced were the recipients of the annual Excellence in Advising awards, with one selected for both the undergraduate and graduate honors. Dr. Christina Dobbs, Assistant Professor in English Education, was voted on as the Undergraduate Advising award winner, while Dr. Jen Green, Associate Professor in Special Education, received the same distinction for her Excellence in Graduate Advising.
As a community favorite and welcome sign that Spring is in full gear, the SED BBQ is a feel-good event that offers the opportunity to send students into summer on a high note.
