West Chester University: Ruby Jones Conference On Race, Social Justice & Civic Leadership

Press release from West Chester University:

October 5, 2021

The Ruby Jones Conference is designed to create an educational environment where students
can engage in learning that will raise awareness and promote action-oriented dialogue
about racial, cultural, and social issues that impact how they experience life on
campus, in communities, and in society.

Professor Ruby Jones was a West Chester University alumna and was also the first Black
faculty member hired at the institution. She was a K-12 educator, and taught in the
University’s Demonstration School prior to becoming a faculty member. Actively involved
with the NAACP, the YWCA and the American Association of University Women, she has
been described as an educator, humanitarian, and civic leader.

Jamila Lyiscott will deliver this year’s keynote speech at approximately 10:40 a.m.
Author of Black Appetite, White Food: Issues of Race, Voice, and Justice Within and Beyond the
Classroom, she is a nationally renowned and viral TED speaker, social justice education scholar
and activist, spoken word artist, and educational consultant. She is co-founder and
director of the Center of Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research at University
of Massachusetts Amherst where she is an assistant professor of social justice education.
She holds an appointment as Senior Research Fellow with Teachers College, Columbia
University’s Institute for Urban and Minority Education.

Black Appetite, White Food: Issues of Race, Voice, and Justice Within and Beyond the
Classroom

For more information, contact the Dowdy Multicultural Center at multicultural@wcupa.edu or 610-436-3273.

This press release was produced by West Chester University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.