To accelerate inclusion and raise awareness about equity-related issues, we need to connect and communicate face-to-face—either in person or online. Events are vital to fostering a more diverse, inclusive, and just campus community at Suffolk University.
Whether focused on personal reflection, research, collaboration, or celebration, these gatherings embody Suffolk’s values. They enlighten, they challenge, but most of all they unite us in a forum of authentic communication.
Suffolk University kicks off every calendar year with this weeklong focus on education, dialogue, and reflection on topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion. A campus-wide series of events in late January and early February, Ram Inclusion Week features workshops, guest speakers, panel discussions, and even yoga and meditation practice. With gatherings geared for students, faculty, staff, and alumni, there is truly something for everyone.
The centerpiece of Ram Inclusion Week is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. This event includes an invited keynote speaker and the presentation of the annual Creating the Dream Award, recognizing members of the Suffolk community who make extraordinary efforts to support students, faculty, and staff of color.
During this annual daylong conference, the Suffolk community - especially students - explores topics of multiculturalism, diversity, and social justice. Workshops and other highly interactive sessions encourage dialogue among participants. Past keynote speakers include Blair Imani, Vernon Wall, Jamie Washington, Kathy O’Bear, Joe Weston, Becky Martinez, Jamie Utt, and Pakou Her.
This series of spring events celebrates the rich diversity of Suffolk University Law School’s students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Thought-provoking lectures and engaging panel discussions help raise awareness about complex issues of representation and equity in the legal system. Special social gatherings foster unity across the spectrum of identities that makes up the Suffolk Law community.
The 1913 Graduation Celebration recognizes the accomplishments of graduating students with diverse identities—LGBTQ+ students, international students, students of color—and their allies. Its name honors Suffolk’s first student of color, Thaddeus Alexander Kitchener, of Kingston, Jamaica. This celebration has been held during commencement week in May every year since its inception in 2013—the centennial anniversary of Kitchener’s graduation.
November 8 is National First-Generation College Celebration Day. To celebrate those Suffolk students who are the first in their families to attend college, the University organizes a weeklong series of events, activities, and speakers around this date. This week’s activities elevate the stories and achievements of first-gen students, who play an integral part in advancing Suffolk’s mission of extending access and opportunity to less privileged or traditionally marginalized students.
