The Smith College Athletic Department and the Smith College Sports Committee for Inclusion and Diversity (SCID) have partnered to host the EmPOWER: Understanding Our Identities Conference. The Conference will take place on Sunday, April 14 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the campus of Smith College in Weinstein Auditorium. The conference focuses on inclusion and diversity within athletics and is open to all NEWMAC and Seven Sisters Institutions.

Highlighting the event will be US Olympic Gold Medalist and Indiana Fever VP of Basketball Operations Tamika Catchings. 

The idea for this conference developed over a year ago as a student-led initiative to bring discussions of athletes' intersecting identities to the forefront of the athletic department. This conference is something that students have been working on for a long period of time in attempts to address the systemic problems withing athletics surrounding student-athletes' identities, inclusion, and diversity.

Schedule
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.    Opening Keynote Address: Tamika Catchings
                                        Catch a Star: Shining Through Adversity to Become a Champion
                                        U.S. Olympian, Former WNBA Player, Indiana Fever VP of Basketball Operations

1:00 - 4:45 p.m.       Workshops 

5:00 - 6:00 p.m.        Closing Keynote Address: Anthony Roger Wright
                                  Busting Down Silos, Without Melting in a Pot

Workshops:
Hallie Smith (Smith Alum): Team USA para rowing and world record holder for PR1 women in the indoor 2k. Bronze medal in PR1W1X event at 2018 World Rowing Championships
A Champion of Challenge

Anthony Roger Wright: Safely Imperfect: An Invitation to Personal and Collective Growth

Patrick Gusman: Straddling the Racial Boundaries in Diversity and Inclusion

Kris Evans: Trends in Mental Health that Impact College Athletes

Jane Stangl: Race, Inclusion and the Language We Use

Matilda Cantwell: "Identity and Identities" Navigating who you are inside and outside and how the two match up

Erica Tibbetts: Towards Brave Spaces: Understanding the role of identity, power, and privilege in athletics

Laura Rauscher and Kris Mereigh: Wellness and self-care through participation in athletics: How do you set goals to pursue athletic achievement while maintaining health and well-being?

*Registration will open at 11:00 a.m. in the front lobby of Weinstein Auditorium in Wright Hall

About Smith Athletics: Smith College is a NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log on to smithpioneers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.