Thank you to all who read and submit items to our Digest. See you in the fall!

Frank will graduate in May with a master’s degree in criminology. He also earned his undergraduate degree in criminology here at IUP. Frank is a graduate assistant in the Social Equity and Title IX office and has been an invaluable team member. He assisted with the coordination of multiple diversity, equity, and inclusion events and conducted research on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) grants and DEI-related professional development. Frank served as an office liaison to student groups such as UBORA Men of IUP and the Latino Student Organization (LaSO). In the coming weeks, Frank will work with the Haven Project, conducting focus groups to examine participants’ attitudes and perceptions regarding sexual violence, training, policies, and resources at IUP. He is a member of Phi Eta Sigma, a national honor society, and the NAACP-IUP student chapter. For the NAACP, Frank was involved in the Mr. and Miss IUP and Image Awards events. He previously served as a student leader for the Multicultural Student Recruitment Team, assisting with the creation of content for underrepresented students, and as a student member of the President’s Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. Frank was a peer mentor for the University College and assisted exploratory students in their first year at IUP. We thank you, Frank!

Veronica has been at IUP for 25 years and is a professor in the Department of English. Her teaching and research areas are African American literature and culture, American literature, and the public humanities. She served as the director of the Frederick Douglass Institute at IUP for more than 17 years and as the statewide convener of the Frederick Douglass Institute Collaborative for a decade. She currently serves as director of Graduate Studies in Literature and Criticism, a position she has held for six years. Veronica is passionate about creating exceptional learning opportunities for students and about literature and the difference it can make when we bring it to bear on some of our thorniest social issues. Her work often encourages students to engage literature as a social practice as well as a particular body of knowledge and analytical skills set. In the wake of many highly publicized instances of unarmed Black people killed by police, for instance, she developed the Humanities Training for Law Enforcement project, a police training protocol that uses African American literature and humanities pedagogies to help officers explore strategies and pathways for improving police legitimacy and community relations, especially in communities of color. She also secured a federal contract with the 400 Years of African American History Commission that led to the creation of the public humanities website I Fear for My Life. She has brought graduate and undergraduate students onto each of these projects as researchers, trainers, and project directors to experience practical, real-world applications of the skills and knowledge they have gained in their programs of study. We thank you, Veronica!

EVENTS OF NOTE THIS WEEK
PLEASE PARTICIPATE, SHARE AS APPROPRIATE, OR INCLUDE IN YOUR CLASSES.