The two will be recognized as Adult Achievers in the YMCA Black Achievers 43^rd Annual Celebration happening Feb. 26. at the Galt House Hotel.

Jennings is the first Black woman to have earned tenure at UofL’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences. As site co-director for the National Science Foundation supported UofL Center for Health Organization Transformation, Jennings brings expertise in organizational research and strategic management. She studies how organizations identify and implement strategic initiatives to improve access to and quality of health care. 

Jennings earned a PhD in Health Services Administration with a concentration in Strategic Management from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of West Georgia, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics from the University of Georgia.

Jennings serves on the Commission on the Status of Women and is co-chair of Campus Climate and Cultural Competency for Employees, a subcommittee of the UofL Campus Environment Team, which advises the university president on diversity, campus climate and environmental issues. She is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., and recently concluded her three-year term as a board member for the Chestnut Street YMCA.

In her role, Gully brings passion to her work with college students and cultivating a safe, equitable and inclusive space for all students at the university. She is an adviser to student organizations including the Black Student Union and the Society of Porter Scholars, in addition to serving on various campus-wide committees and roles including Staff Senate, the Commission on the Status of Women, Black Faculty & Staff Association and the Commission on Diversity & Racial Equity.

Gully is pursuing a doctoral degree in College Student Personnel as a member of the Melanin 5, the first all-women of color cohort pursuing a doctorate degree at UofL. Her research interests include identifying and implementing student success strategies to enrich the experience of Black students, ensuring succes at the university and beyond.  Gully previously earned a Master of ����ֱ�� in Counseling and ����ֱ��al Psychology with a concentration in College Student Personnel and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.

The YMCA Black Achievers event will also celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of local students, in addition to other professionals and community partners.

In the summer of 2020, President Neeli Bendapudi charged the to lead a taskforce in bringing forth recommendations to guide UofL in becoming a premier anti-racist metropolitan research university.

“To be an anti-racist institution, UofL cannot rest on the racial advancements of the 20^th century,” Bendapudi said. “We are facing long-held racist beliefs, action and inaction, and we aren’t shying away from the fight.”

The agenda, now in the final stages of development, underscores the strategic vision of the university as a great place to learn, work and invest through celebration of the unique attributes every individual brings to the university community.

“The approach of this work focuses on evaluating policies and institutional behaviors as a means of shifting cultural values and perspectives toward greater racial equity,” said V. Faye Jones, interim senior associate vice president for diversity and equity.

CARA progress

Representatives from throughout UofL’s campuses — faculty, staff, students, trainees (residents and post docs) and administration — helped develop the agenda. These five subgroups of the taskforce have carefully and thoughtfully drafted a report of six priority areas, and action steps, which are now being refined. Completion of a final plan, along with implementation is expected this year.

The six broad priority areas are:

• Culture, Policies, Practices and Procedures
• Equity in Work, Compensation, Professional Development and Reward
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Images and Communication
• Recruitment and Retention of Diverse Talent
• University and Community Relationships

This year the taskforce anticipates a report with action plans for every strategy, a data dashboard making diversity data transparent and accessible and a CARA cultural impact to improve the lived experiences of the entire Cardinal family.

Campus movement

As details of CARA are being finalized, movement to support the agenda is already in motion. Every unit throughout campus is laying groundwork to break down barriers and make changes that reflect our anti-racism goal.

For example, leadership from each of the four Health Sciences Center schools participated in a 10-week immersive executive leadership program with the Aspen Institute focused on leading institutional diversity, equity and inclusion. Not only this, but leaders at many schools and units throughout the university have set aside funding to support dedicated diversity, equity and inclusion positions at the director, assistant dean and associate dean levels.

Faculty, staff and student support is one area of growth. Through the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), faculty, staff and students can receive on-demand access to mentoring, professional development and support leading to success in the academy. Several faculty of color are being supported by their school’s dean and the to participate in NCFDD’s Faculty Success Program designed to help faculty increase research and writing productivity while maintaining a healthy work/life balance. This opportunity will provide needed resources as the faculty pursue tenure. Meanwhile, Human Resources has developed an affirmative action review process for faculty tenure and promotions, seeking to understand whether decisions made regarding tenure and/or promotion adversely impact members of certain groups.

Launched through the Office of Research and Innovation, the new  provides mentorship, funding and other support to high-performing associate professors. The goal is to boost the national impact of the fellows’ scholarship, with a focus on work in diversity, inclusion and community empowerment.

Other actions, too, are helping the CARA progress, as staff and faculty have opportunities to participate in book studies and Continuing ����ֱ�� sessions on the topics of implicit bias, microagressions, power and privilege, health disparities and racial justice. A new Lunch and Learn series also helps welcome, mentor and retain Black faculty, with plans to extend to Hispanic and Latino faculty. Development of a faculty search document, Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Increase Diversity and Excellence (STRIDE) will lead to workforce change, and a new Employee Resource Group is focused on faculty and staff who identify as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The Office of Diversity and Equity, in collaboration with the Employee Success Center, also is working to better incorporate diversity and equity in university onboarding, leadership and retention programs, policies and practices. Programs and services to support employees and students experiencing racial trauma also give credence to one of UofL’s guiding principles as a Community of Care.

A new Undergraduate Student Success Taskforce, coordinated through the Office of Diversity and Equity, aims to make it easier for underrepresented, underfunded and first generation students to have an equal opportunity for achievement. The group will work to improve information sharing, communication and collaboration across units; identify gaps in services, student performance and experience; and develop creative ways to eliminate barriers and build student success. The taskforce will have a plan in place this fall.

A course for first-year students taught by student success center staff also is being revised in time for the new academic year to more intentionally thread themes of diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the curriculum. All GEN 100 instructors will be trained on what it means to be an anti-racist institution and tie the work of CARA to first year students’ experience as they join the university community.

And advancement is working to raise funds for student financial support aimed at racial equity. The School of Nursing’s Breonna Taylor Memorial Scholarship and the J.B. Speed School of Engineering’s diversity education scholarship through are two examples.

New committees and groups

The Student Government Association recently created a diversity and inclusion committee, the Staff Senate created a and new recognized student organizations have launched this year, including the Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA).

Jason Deakings helped lead the effort in bringing together the BGSA. As a CODRE student representative, he’s also helping shape CARA. Deakings worked on a committee to explore anti-racism initiatives at other universities, and had the opportunity to listen to both graduate and undergraduate student ideas and concerns related to the agenda.

“Inclusiveness is of paramount importance for students,” Deakings said. “Even as new RSOs have been created, we are working toward unification and progressing inclusivity.”

Inclusiveness and belonging are key, says Jones.

“We must ensure equity in all of our practices and policies that are inclusive of our multiple identities,” she said.

As the world begins to recover from the devastating effects of the recent global COVID-19 pandemic, we maintain our commitment to providing education that is fair, just and true, and leads toward an end of the devastating effects of the long-term racial pandemic.

Speakers included Melissa Shuter, conference program chair and executive director of Business Operations; Toni Ganzel, dean of the School of Medicine and interim executive dean for Health Sciences; Dawne Gee, WAVE 3 News anchor and host; and Maryanne Honeycutt Elliott, an instructor in the Delphi Center. Participants were also treated to intermittent mindfulness exercises led by Karen Newton, and a mindfulness workshop, led by Katrina Kaufman, both from UofL Health Promotions.

Toni Ganzel

Toni Ganzel talked about her career path, which led to her becoming the first female dean of the School of Medicine in its 180-year existence. She grew up in an Air Force family, which taught her how to be adaptable. When she was young, she wanted to be Wonder Woman, complete with red boots. When she realized Wonder Woman was fictional, she wanted to be a flight attendant, also complete with red boots.

In seventh grade, however, Ganzel started to become interested in science.

“I didn’t want to go to med school, but I did well on my MCAT so I thought ‘what the heck?’” she said.

Eventually, Ganzel also received her MBA as she thought it would help her better serve patients and the medical field in general. 

When Ganzel was approached to take on the then-interim dean role in 2012, her response was “Who, me?” She said her response would be much different now. “Why not me?” she said.

Ganzel said the sweet spot of leadership is when passion, goals and skillset meet opportunity and timing. She also noted her optimism about the future of UofL.

“We’re at an inflection point,” she said. “Bright days are ahead.”

Dawne Gee

Dawne Gee, who identified as a “proud UofL alum” during her presentation, discussed the challenges she has overcome since fighting a cancer diagnosis in 2014 and experiencing a stroke on Nov. 25, 2016, noting she can stand for about 26 minutes at a time and is still recovering. She said being mindful of her attitude is what has helped her most through these struggles.

“Attitude is like your underwear. You get up, you pick what you’re going to wear and if you don’t like it, you change it. You either put on a pair that is comfy or you put on a pair that rides you all day,” she joked. “Happiness is a choice. The only difference between a good day and a bad day is attitude.”

Gee encouraged attendees to go on a “mental health diet,” in which they go seven consecutive days saying nothing but good things. She admits she starts this diet over all the time.

“If I was still in that place I was in when I had the stroke, when I couldn’t walk … I wrapped myself in depression like a coat,” Gee said, holding back tears. “One day I made a decision to stop. Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right. But you have to claim your ‘I am.’ And I am whole.”

Gee also discussed her career at WAVE, which she joined in 1994. At first, she was told she would never be on TV, but she persisted.

“They didn’t know me. I applied to WAVE nine times,” she said. “Every time I hear someone saying ‘you’re not going to do it,’ I just cut that chatter out. We have to decide for ourselves what we can do.”

Gee also warned attendees to be aware of what others may be going through.

“I guarantee someone in this room – someone at your table – is going through a battle you know nothing about,” she said. “If someone snaps at you, cut them a break. You don’t know what they’re going through.”

Finally, Gee told participants to take care of themselves and “be in the moment you’re in because it won’t come again.”

Maryanne Honeycutt Elliott

Maryanne Honeycutt Elliott guided participants through the DiSC assessments they were tasked with taking prior to the conference. DiSC scores profiles based on a series of questions and ranks them based on potential strengths and weaknesses in Dominance (results-oriented, decisive, independent), Influence (enthusiastic, talkers), Steadiness (stable, agreeable, helpful) and Conscientious (detailed, orderly, persistent).

“We can flex into any style, we just tend to come back to the comfortable domain,” Elliott explained. “DiSC is designed to grow self-awareness. Part of leadership is knowing yourself well. Self-awareness is the key to working effectively with others. Great teams are comprised of people all over the DiSC chart.”

Videos/statistics

The conference also included videos and slides created to make attendees think about perceptions, reality and leadership attributes.

For example, women speak about 20,000 words a day, or about 13,000 more words than men. In 2015, women made, on average, 80 cents to the dollar. The women’s labor force participation rate is projected to be 57 percent by 2020.  

Commercials shown included Pantene’s “Not Sorry Shine Strong;” Always’ “Like a Girl;” and Dove’s “You’re More Beautiful Than You Think.”

Also, Drew Dudley’s “Leading with Lollipops” TEDx talk was shown and is embedded below.

The 6th annual Pathways Women’s Leadership Conference is scheduled for May 18, 2018.