2026 Equity Conference One Week Away! Features Four Not to Miss Sessions

CFA’s 2026 three-day virtual Equity Conference begins next Thursday, March 12! If you have not yet registered for the conference, click here to browse sessions and sign up now! The deadline to register is extended to Monday, March 9^th! 

The Council on Racial and Social Justice is proud to offer four cutting–edge sessions at this year’s conference on the topline issues impacting faculty navigating tensions in higher education and in their communities. 

On Thursday, March 12, the conference features a hot-topic panel titled “Academic Freedom, the EEOC, and Title IX.” In this session, faculty will hear from Dr. Rana Jaleel, who leads the on American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Committee A on Academic Freedom. In her tenure as its chair, Dr. Jaleel has directly and persuasively responded to the challenges of the Trump administration and far-right  attempts to decimate higher education in this country. Honoring the long legacy of AAUP principles and policy, Dr. Jaleel fosters discussions to address the current attacks on Critical Race Theory, DEI, Ethnic Studies, Gender and Trans Studies, free speech, and Academic Freedom, among others.  

The panel also features Dr. Karma R. Chavez, Professor and Chair of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, at the University of Texas at Austin, who also serves on the executive committee of their university’s AAUP chapter. Texas universities have faced DEI bans, cuts to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies programs, and tenure denials to faculty who research race. Chavez will speak to such academic freedom organizing challenges and wins. 

“As a member of Committee A, I look forward to Dr. Jaleel’s presentation that addresses threats to higher education and academic freedom, and highlights the work AAUP is doing to protect higher education and its promise,” said Charles Toombs, CFA immediate past president and professor at San Diego State. 

On Friday, March 13, Dr. Jess Nerren, CSU San Bernardino (CSUSB) professor and CSUSB’s Disability Inclusion Faculty Fellow, will be leading a panel discussion titled: “Thriving Through Community: Disabled Care Work and Disabled Futures on Campus.” Dr. Nerren will discuss how disability justice and pride can be used as tools to not only survive but thrive in times where there are chaos and resistance. Topics will include a disability rights status review, a discussion of the origin and history of disability rights, and a needed clarification of related concepts and ideas. 

  

“What I am looking forward to in this discussion is the opportunity for collective organizing and the empowering our faculty colleagues for disability justice-related collaboration,” said Leslie Bryan, CFA Disability Caucus tri-chair and retired faculty member from CSUSB. 

On Saturday, March 14, we highlight a much-demanded session on “Doxxing and Digital Security” as it may apply to higher education and faculty public scholar profiles. We host Turner Willman, staff at 18 Million Rising. 18 Million Rising is an organization that brings Asian American communities together online and offline to build a more just world. As a digital strategist, Turner offers this training to help participants assess their online presence and personal risk, alongside tools to protect identity and private data.  

Last, for our final keynote, we feature the esteemed Ash-Lee Woodard Hendersen in conversation with Alex Tom. We know that faculty are a part of many communities and that higher education is one impacted sector under attack, amongst many other union partners, grassroots organizations, community-based organizations, who serve a diverse set of communities—Black, indigenous, queer, undocumented and more.  

In this closing keynote titled, “Coalition/Community Building and Dreaming in Tough Times,” Woodard Hendersen of the Highlander Center, in conversation with Tom, of the Center for Empowered Politics, will touch on what racial solidarity and collective liberation can look like in tough times. How do we understand the current moment, in terms of the longer history of anti-Blackness, and how do we imagine and dream for policies and practices that let us build community together? 

These are some of dozens of panels, workshops, and keynote speakers addressing the intensity of the current turbulent moment, a part of this year’s 2026 Equity Conference, “Thriving through the Chaos: Resistance in Turbulent Times.”  Register for the conference now before the deadline, here.