Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

Dr. Royel M. Johnson is one of the nation's foremost voices on diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education. A tenured professor in the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, Johnson also serves as chair of the school’s PhD program. He is also Director of the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates in the USC Race and Equity Center, the nation’s leading tool for assessing campus racial climate. Author of three books and over 60 academic papers and chapters, Johnson’s upcoming book, The Big Lie About Race in America's Schools, is set to be published by Harvard Education Press this fall. Johnson is Co-Editor at Educational Researcher, the flagship journal for the field of education. In 2023, the Los Angeles Times named Dr. Johnson one of the 111 DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Visionaries across various industries, recognizing his efforts to propel positive change in Southern California and beyond.

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Aya M. Waller-Bey is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Michigan, examining trauma narratives in college essays. A researcher, writer, and storyteller, Aya’s work critically informs growing discourse about the commodification of racialized trauma by postsecondary institutions, non-profits, and foundations, and a growing concern about how institutions of higher education entice minoritized groups to place their trauma and struggle on display for access and rewards. She's authored op-eds for Forbes and the Atlantic on trauma in college essays and affirmative action, with interviews and citations in publications like The New York Times, The Guardian, MarketWatch, and Slate. She’s also given dozens of local and national invited talks, including Aspen Center for Physics, TEDxDetroit, The New Haven International Festival of Arts and Ideas, the National Association of Fellowship Advisors and SXSW EDU. She is a decorated scholar selected as a Ford Foundation Predoctoral and Dissertation Fellowship awardee—a prestigious fellowship awarded by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine aimed to increase the diversity of the national college and university professoriate. Aya holds a B.A. in Sociology from Georgetown University and earned the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship in 2015, completing her Master of Philosophy in Education at the University of Cambridge. She also holds an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Michigan. Aya is a proud Detroiter, first-generation college student, and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

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Devon Westhill is President of the Center for Equal Opportunity, and is an attorney focused on matters of constitutional and civil rights. He researches, speaks, and writes about civil rights, civil liberties, and related issues such as race relations, social change, and equal opportunity.

Mr. Westhill's writing has been published in numerous outlets including Newsweek, National Review, and The Wall Street Journal. He has spoken hundreds of times at college campuses, conferences, and on radio programs, and has appeared on cable television channels including Fox News, Newsmax, and CSPAN. Mr. Westhill has also provided expert testimony to both houses of the U.S. Congress, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Mr. Westhill led the civil rights office at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Trump administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. He has also worked at the U.S. Department of Labor, Federalist Society, and as a criminal trial lawyer in private practice. Mr. Westhill is a U.S. Navy veteran with degrees from UNC at Chapel Hill and the University of Florida.

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This panel will be moderated by Ken Miller, the Rose Professor of State and Local Government and Director of the Rose Institute at CMC.

This event is co-sponsored by the Jerome H. Garris Dialogue Series at CMC with additional support from the Presidential Initiative on Anti-Racism and the Black Experience in America, all at CMC.