Aligned with the MSU 2030 strategic plan’s commitment to inclusion and accessibility, Michigan State University offices, units, colleges and community partners came together Aug. 3 for the third annual Inclusive Impact Conference, drawing more than 225 attendees from MSU and beyond.
A committee of MSU staff, led by conference co-chairs Meaghan Kozar and Anjam Chaudhary, organized the conference around the theme “The Ground Beneath Us: What Holds Us When Everything Shifts,” exploring grounding, healing and cultivating stability through community and connection.
The conference featured speakers Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Laura Lee McIntyre, City University of New York Hunter College professor and Center for Puerto Rican Studies Director Yomaira Figueroa-Vásquez, and pollster and political strategist Joshua Doss, among others.
Throughout the conference, speakers emphasized the importance of putting commitments into action. “Acknowledgments like this are just the start,” said Lesly Morales, coordinator for Women and Gender Equity in Student Affairs, after delivering the opening land acknowledgment.
“Recognizing that MSU’s land-grant history is challenged positions us to lead differently,” said McIntyre as she delivered the opening remarks. “I am proud of the accomplishments we’ve made, but we don’t rest on our accomplishments. We recognize that we need all of us to commit to action.”
Introduced after the conference’s welcome, Figueroa-Vásquez powerfully recounted her journey to academia and authorship as a first-generation high school student whose parents faced academic exclusion in Puerto Rico because of the color of their skin.
“It is so heartening to see the deep-rootedness of this community and the demand for action from its surrounding community and institutions. It’s a powerful room,” said Figueroa-Vásquez.
Figueroa-Vásquez introduced the term “locus of enunciation” to the conference as a combination of the geopolitical realm we reside in, our histories and corporeal experiences, and the cultural position from which we create knowledge.
“The way we think is shaped by who we are. A lot of times we do not realize that we are completely disregarding a whole set of people, so being attuned to that locus of enunciation is vital for shaping your ethics in the work.”
Building on that locus, the conference featured a collaborative community art project led by Residence Education and Hospitality Services Learning and Development Specialist Chloé Grigsby, who introduced the project as inspired by the “love ethic,” an ethical framework coined by the late bell hooks.
“hooks explains that love is not simply a fleeting feeling or something to be commercialized. It is an ethic that presupposes that everyone has the right to be free, to live fully and well,” said Grigsby. “We do this by committing to give our all to relationships and by embracing a global vision wherein we see our lives and our fate as intimately connected to those of everyone else on the planet.”
As attendees contributed to the community’s quilt, they turned their attention to the conference’s morning plenary panel on inspirational leadership. Featuring insights from institutional leaders at Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Central Michigan University, the panel offered methods for personal sustainability and called for continued support and impact in their communities through elevated representation, mentorship and resilience.
After the morning’s panel, attendees were able to participate in a breakout session of their choice, including:
- Financial Grounding: How Our Stories, Systems and Choices Shape Well-being
- Land and Identity: Acknowledgement as Invitation
- Planting Seeds for Disability Justice
- Who Is Safety For? Psychological Safety Across Identity and Experience
- The Soil Remembers: Mentorship, Memory and the Making of Women Leaders
Following the breakout sessions, the conference featured powerful performances and meaningful dialogue from poets Masaki Takahashi and Natasha T. Miller. Their performances evoked complex emotions in attendees, weaving themes of identity, dehumanization and fortitude while offering comedic relief and hope.
To close out the conference, Joshua Doss, a data scientist and political strategist with a strong media presence, spoke about what he has learned as a pollster and how informed engagement can bridge differences.
“Sixty-seven percent of Americans say that they are more afraid of running out of money than death,” said Doss. “Behind that number, there might be a statement from Americans: ‘If I’m killed simply for living, let death be kinder than capitalism.’”
Throughout the day, the conference returned to the idea that navigating uncertainty requires more than individual perseverance. It requires a willingness to understand the experiences that shape how others see the world.
“What makes this conference meaningful is the opportunity to bring people together across roles, disciplines and experiences to learn from one another and strengthen the relationships that sustain our communities,” said Kozar. “I hope people left feeling more grounded in those connections and with new ideas, perspectives and relationships they can carry back into their work and communities.”
View additional photos from the conference at Marisa Laura Photography.
