Nevada State University, in collaboration with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the College of Southern Nevada, and the Desert Research Institute, announces the call for proposals for the 2024 Southern Nevada Diversity Summit. The summit will be held Oct. 4, 2024 at Nevada State University.

The deadline to submit proposals is Friday, May 31, at 11:59pm. Submit proposals through the Diversity Summit website.

Proposals are encouraged for presentations, workshops, roundtables, posters, and panels that align with the theme, Good Trouble: Advancing the Legacies of Diversity & Inclusion in an Anti-DEI Era.

Conference theme: U.S. Congressman John Lewis is revered as an American hero, but before he was protecting voting rights in the halls of Congress, he was first a college student. Inspired by the mentorship of civil rights icons of the 1960s like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ella Baker, John Lewis entered college with a passion and fire to fight for justice and freedom. His involvement in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and organizing sit-ins to fight for desegregation would set him on a path to dedicate his life to fighting for social justice.

In honor of his legacy and memory, we invite our state to have critical dialogues as we get into “good trouble, necessary trouble” for the future of diversity, equity, & inclusion work in our state and nation. As we witness contemporary resistance to the legacy of the civil rights movements in the banning of diversity, equity, & inclusion efforts on college campuses, we invite our community to carry the torch of this work forward and ground ourselves in Lewis’s words:  

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.

The Southern Nevada Diversity Summit is a systemwide collaboration that provides annual professional development opportunities to learn about social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education. This event is free of charge and all faculty, staff, students, and community partners are invited to attend, though space is limited for in-person attendance.

For questions, email diversitysummit@nevadastate.edu.