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Help our students SLAY this Giving Day.
The Shepard Symposium on Social Justice is a major national conference that started at UW in 1997 to engage participants in the discussion of strategies to eliminate social inequality. Founded by two faculty in the College of Education, Omowale Akintunde and Margaret Cooney, the symposium was initially called "The Symposium for the Eradication of Social Inequality." The annual event aims to involve University of Wyoming students and the community in dialogue on issues related to social justice, particularly within the context of public education.
The mission of the Shepard Symposium is to spotlight contemporary inequities in order to promote transformative learning and engagement in the pursuit of justice. Each year we bring together leading voices in social justice—scholars, students, community members, activists, artists, and filmmakers—to support an inclusive dialogue addressing issues of social and environmental justice in interpersonal, community, and structural contexts. The Shepard Symposium includes workshops with nationally renowned experts and professors, collaborative opportunities from varied backgrounds, and a special keynote address.
The Shepard Symposium's youth-oriented forum SLAY Day (Supporting Leader, Advocates, and Youth) is an on-campus community-building experience for LGBTQIAP2S+ youth across the state of Wyoming. Adolescents experience conference sessions, a tour of campus including the Poke Pride Center, special one-on-one conversations with the Shepard Symposium keynote speaker, an opportunity to present topics of their choosing in a symposium-style academic setting, and down time for arts and crafts. In a state as large and as remote as Wyoming, SLAY Day is an amazing opportunity for LGBTQIAP2S+ youth to find one another and share community.
Founded in 2015, SLAY Day has grown significantly. SLAY Day is accessible for everyone because all of this is made possible through Wyoming Equality, the Shepard Symposium Endowment, and private donors like yourself.
Please support the Shepard Symposium and SLAY Day this Giving Day!
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