Discussion: View Thread

Date: Saturday, July 26, 2025

Time: 10:45am - 12:15pm

CEST (GMT+2)

Location: Bella Center: Hall D-D3-m4

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education's DEI tracker[1], 86 anti-DEI legislation have been proposed in 28 states, resulting in 14 becoming law to date (54 failed to pass). This anti-DEI legislation has had a profound immediate impact on colleges, universities, and governmental agencies, though spillover effects have also led to several for-profit organizations eliminating or reducing their DEI investments and programming. In this Professional Development Workshop (PDW), we aim to offer support to members of our academic community in navigating this complex anti-DEI landscape. Uniquely, this PDW will give voice to various DEI administrators who are situated in states where anti-DEI legislation has been enacted. The session is organized around a panel where DEI administrators will speak about how their universities have practically responded to the anti-DEI legislation, how their careers have been impacted, how the culture and climate at their universities have changed, and what the challenges and opportunities they are facing and anticipating moving forward.

The invited panelists are:

Dr. James E. King, Jr. is the Associate Dean for Culture and Success (formerly the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and the Miles-Rose Professor of Leadership in the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama. His research interests include improving career and assessment outcomes, human resource analytics, work/life interactions and workplace religious diversity issues.  His work has been published in various human resource and management journals.

Dr. Alexis Smith Washington is an Associate Professor of Management and former Senior Inclusion Officer at Oklahoma State University's Spears School of Business. Her research interests include gender, status, and influence, as well as diversity and bias at work and has been published in several top-tier management journals and books.

Dr. Robert E. Thomas, J.D. is the Associate Dean for Access, Empowerment, and Societal Impact and Charles M. Hewitt Professor at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. In 2023, he joined the Kelley School of Business as their inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Prior to earning his Ph.D. in Economics, he practiced law in San Francisco.

Dr. Juan M. Madera is a Professor in the Department of Management & Leadership in the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business. His research interests include diversity and discrimination in the workplace, and he has been published widely in top-tier management journals and books. He brings to the panel his expertise as a DEI scholar who has been the administrator of several significant grants, including serving as co-director of the NSF-funded Center for Excellence in Faculty Advancement, which aims to address systemic bias and racial inequity in the P&T process.

Moderator:

Dr. Oscar Holmes IV, SHRM-SCP is a Professor of Management, Rutgers University Student Executive (RUSE) program director, and former Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs. His research investigates how leaders can maximize productivity and well-being by fostering inclusive environments and has been published in several top-tier management journals and books.