HBCU, TCU Leaders to Celebrate Lasting Impacts and Reimagine Equal Participation at 2023 Internet2 Community Exchange

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Sandra Boham, Deshon Miguel, Joseph Whittaker, and Urban Wiggins will share how historically Black colleges and universities and tribal colleges and universities continue to flourish despite challenges, making significant contributions to the nation and the world

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 28, 2023 – While their historical and cultural legacies are unique, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) share a uniting commonality. Despite being systemically underserved and under-resourced, HBCUs and TCUs continue to uplift their students – and, by extension, their communities – nurturing leaders across academic disciplines. 

Attendees at the 2023 Internet2 Community Exchange, May 8-11 in Atlanta, will have the opportunity to hear first-hand from HBCU and TCU leaders as they tell their own stories, in their own voices, and ask to reimagine together how to ensure equal participation in the national and global research and education (R&E) communities.

The closing keynote panel, “Reframing Our Perspective: Centering HBCU and TCU Voices to Reimagine a Stronger R&E Community,” will take place at 1:15 p.m. ET Thursday, May 11, at the Westin Peachtree Plaza. 

The panelists are:

• Sandra Boham, president of Salish Kootenai College
• Deshon Miguel, director of information technology at Tohono O’odham Community College
• Joseph Whittaker, vice president for research and economic development/associate provost at Jackson State University
• Urban Wiggins, vice provost for decision science and visualization at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Boham, Miguel, Whittaker, and Wiggins will be joined by panel moderator Ana Hunsinger, vice president for community engagement at Internet2.

“Sandra Boham, Deshon Miguel, Joseph Whittaker, and Urban Wiggins will invite us to deepen our shared understanding of HBCUs and TCUs—their histories, their thriving despite inequitable systems, and their unparalleled roles in the world today,” said Ana Hunsinger, vice president of community engagement at Internet2. “We look forward to celebrating these institutions’ many contributions to our society as we envision new possibilities for our collective future.”

The 2023 Internet2 Community Exchange will convene emerging and established leaders from across the R&E technology community in the U.S. and globally. The event will feature inspiring keynotes, expert-led talks, and workshops on topics including digital transformation, digital inclusion and equity, cybersecurity, cloud strategy, trust and identity, advanced network modernization and automation, and collaborative projects.

About Internet2

Internet2® is a non-profit, member-driven advanced technology community founded by the nation’s leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 delivers a diverse portfolio of technology solutions that leverages, integrates, and amplifies the strengths of its members and helps support their educational, research, and community service missions. Internet2’s core infrastructure components include the nation’s largest and fastest research and education network that was built to deliver advanced, customized services that are accessed and secured by the community-developed trust and identity framework. For more information, visit https://internet2.edu or follow @internet2 on Twitter.

Media Contact:

Amber Rasche
Internet2 Communications
arasche@internet2.edu