UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Antiracist Development Institute (ADI) at Penn State Dickinson Law hosted its second annual Mini Convening on May 15-16 at the Historic Hotel Bethlehem in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The event, held in collaboration with Penn State Lehigh Valley, brought together more than 40 members of the Penn State community and community partners and even featured a surprise appearance by the Nittany Lion.
The Mini Convening occurred 13 months after Penn State announced funding for a significant scaleup of the ADI to support and grow strong, interdependent partnerships and collectives to advance institutional antiracism using systems design and critical pedagogy frameworks. As part of that scaleup, the ADI created six PODs, also known as University-wide focus groups, developing projects to disrupt systemic racial inequality and intersectional injustice.
The Mini Convening offered the PODs an opportunity to meet and share their progress. The event also included a design thinking workshop refresher and an inspiring conversation with a local civil rights pioneer.
More than a dozen Penn State locations and units were represented at the Mini Convening, reflecting the broad reach of the ADI scaleup and sustained interest in the PODs. The strengthening of partnerships and affirmation of coalition-building became the theme of the two-day event.
“I am so proud to be here among my colleagues from across the Penn State ecosystem," said Danielle M. Conway, Penn State Dickinson Law dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law, and the ADI’s executive director. "This is a trust exercise. We are building trust relationships. The fact that we have come together across our campuses and across our disciplines says a lot about the importance of having and building that trust. The work we are doing in this room today will bubble over and extend to other colleagues, whom we can invite to be part of that trust relationship.”
The event coincided with the publishing of the recommendation report regarding the future of the Commonwealth Campuses, which several of the day’s speakers mentioned in their talks.
In addition to working with the PODs and presenting systems design workshops at law schools nationwide, the ADI is shepherding a 10-volume book series titled, "Building an Antiracist Law School, Legal Academy, and Legal Profession." ADI partner University of California Press will publish the series, which features chapter contributions from nearly two dozen Penn State faculty and staff members.
Design thinking and POD meetings
Day one began with brunch and the ADI’s trademark warm-hearted welcome, given by ADI Program Manager TaWanda Hunter Stallworth.
“The energy in this room is absolutely amazing,” said Stallworth. “We are grateful for the support we have received from across the Penn State University ecosystem, which is reflected in the many units and Commonwealth Campuses represented here today.”
Next, Stallworth introduced Penn State Lehigh Valley Chancellor Tina Q. Richardson, who highlighted the value of community when performing the hard work ahead.
“I look forward to joining our brilliant minds together and producing outcomes that we can walk out of the room with and say, ‘I did something good with these two days we are together. I have not only done something good, but I can also impact other people in my circle, my community, my department, and my family,” said Richardson.
Richardson also provided notable feedback for the Antiracist Leadership Certificate POD, which piloted a continuing education program for law enforcement in July.
ADI systems designer Nicole P. Dyszlewski, law professor and assistant dean for curricular innovation at Roger Williams University (RWU) School of Law, led a icebreaker session. Then, Erin Walczewski, an attorney at Cooley LLP and lecturer in law at Harvard Law School, delivered a refresher on design thinking basics.
After lunch, attendees broke into their PODs for a work session.
“It was wonderful to get together with our POD, especially during a time of such upheaval for our Commonwealth Campuses,” said Jamie Merida, interim director of continuing education and education program specialist at Penn State Lehigh Valley. “The ADI is truly a community of support and being able to draw strength and solidarity from the work that we do and the people we work with is incredibly valued.”
D’Andre Miller, director of student affairs at Penn State Lehigh Valley, started at Penn State just a few weeks before the Mini Convening.
“I originally attended the ADI Mini Convening looking for ways to better support my teammates here at Lehigh Valley. What I didn’t expect was to leave feeling like I had become part of something much bigger," Miller said. "I met wonderful people who are genuinely committed to making the world a better place, which is what this work has always been about for me. Even though I’m new to Penn State, I left the event feeling like I was truly welcomed into a community.”
Roderick Lee, Penn State Harrisburg associate professor of information systems and affiliate associate professor of higher education, said he was also impressed by what he experienced.
“I signed up because I believe in our collective capacity to fulfill the promise of higher education by expanding access and opportunity for all. That belief fuels my commitment to the power of convening — not just as a gathering but as a catalyst for generating knowledge and inspiring coordinated action to illuminate and dismantle structural inequities,” Lee said.
In addition to members of the Penn State community, the Mini Convening also included several partners from outside Pennsylvania, such as G. Griffith “Griff” Lindsay III, Penn State Dickinson Law class of 1979. The Florida resident and his wife, Emily, support ADI efforts like this event through the Griff and Emily Lindsay Antiracism and Systemic Equity Program Support Fund.
Dinner with a civil-rights pioneer
Following the day’s activities, the ADI held a dinner at the hotel featuring the traveling exhibit from the Esther M. Lee African-American Heritage Center, which shines a light on the stories and legacies of the Black community in the Lehigh Valley.
Esther Lee herself was the guest of honor at the dinner, engaging in a lively discussion with Jeffrey A. Dodge, Penn State Dickinson Law associate dean for academic affairs, assistant professor of law and Joseph H. Goldstein Faculty Scholar.
Lee shared how she began her activism as the president of the Parent Teacher Association in her children’s school district in the 1960s. Later, she became the first Black member of the Bethlehem Area School District board, and the first woman elected to public office in the Lehigh Valley. She has served as president of the Bethlehem Chapter of the NAACP since the mid 2000s.
“There are many things that have happened to me in my life as a Black woman that have inspired me to do the work that I do,” Lee said. “I looked at what was happening in front of me, and I tried to help correct it.”
Lee emphasized the importance of education and how initiatives like the traveling exhibit can help those from different backgrounds understand more about each other. The evening ended with a standing ovation for the nonagenarian.
“Sitting next to you tonight makes me proud to be an American and know that we are part of a legacy," Dodge said. "It is reassuring to remember that the ideals you have embodied for over 90 years, and that many of us here share, will also endure through the challenges we face today."
POD presentations and final thoughts
The event wrapped up the next day with presentations from the PODs, which updated attendees on the work completed since the last collective POD meeting in October. Many shared how they have deployed the five stages of design thinking (empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test). A more detailed update on the PODs’ progress will be shared later this summer.
As the day ended, colleagues expressed the desire to stay connected in the future. “It made me feel honored to be part of the Penn State family, especially because everyone was so gracious and open, even after only knowing me for a day,” Miller said. “It helped me understand that when you all say, ‘We Are Penn State,’ it’s not just a phrase. It’s a promise that’s lived out through actions.”
Others said they were excited to bring what they had learned back to the classroom.
“The design thinking workshop offered a human-centered design framework for problematizing institutional policies and practices that operate to limit access and opportunity,” said Roderick Lee. “It challenged us to cultivate deeper empathy for students from under-resourced rural and urban districts — especially those without access to advanced coursework, experienced, certified teachers, SAT/ACT test prep, or enrichment opportunities. Through this convening, we became better equipped to engage in 'strangefying' — the act of making the familiar unfamiliar — to better understand the lived realities and aspirations of these students. This shift in perspective helps us reimagine solutions that center their experiences and address the role of preparatory privilege in shaping access to higher education.”
Registration for the ADI’s Third Annual Convening, scheduled for Oct. 8-10 in Carlisle, will open this summer.