Professor McKay Publishes on Supreme Court Oklahoma Decision

Congratulations to Colorado College Assistant Professor Dwanna McKay (Race, Ethnicity, and Migration Studies), who published “Oklahoma is – and always has been – Native land” in The Conversation.

McKay, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation whose research focuses on social inequality and Indigenous identity, explains that the landmark July 9 decision applies only to criminal law and gives federal and tribal courts jurisdiction over felonies committed by tribal citizens within the Creek reservation, not the state of Oklahoma.

“Any shock that tribal nations have sovereignty over their own land reflects a serious misunderstanding of American history. For Oklahoma – indeed, all of North America – has always been, for lack of a better term, Indian Country,” she writes. “As both an educator and scholar, I work to correct the erasure of Indigenous histories through my research and teaching.” Read more here.

Ryan Haygood ’97 Honors Rep. John Lewis in Op-Ed Piece

Ryan Haygood ’97, executive director and chief executive officer of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, paid tribute to the life and legacy of civil rights and racial justice leader Rep. John Lewis who passed away earlier this month in his op-ed piece, “John Lewis Taught Us to Tell Uncomfortable Truths.”

A nationally respected civil rights lawyer, Haygood is president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (2015-present). Prior to leading the Institute, he served as the deputy director of litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund Inc., where he worked for more than a decade (2003-2015). Haygood began his legal career as a litigation associate at the New York law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP (2001-03). As an undergraduate student, he was nominated for the Rhodes scholarship and earned academic and athletic All-American and hall of fame honors as a football player. Haygood graduated with his B.A. in American History and Political Science, cum laude, in 1997. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Colorado College in 2011. He currently serves as a trustee at Colorado College.

Professor Nene Diop Publishes Book

Congratulations to Assistant Professor of French Nene Diop, who recently published her first book, “Combat Socio-Politique et Représentation: Le droit de la Femme en Question dans le Roman Sénégalais” (Socio-Political Struggle and Self-Representation: Senegalese Women and their Quest for Equal Rights in the Senegalese Novel).

Diop earned her Ph.D. in French at the University of Colorado-Boulder’s French and Italian Department. She holds a License in Lettres and a Master in Linguistics from the Université Gaston Berger in St. Louis (Sénégal) and a master’s degree in French from the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Diop teaches French/Francophone Literature, Language and Cultures. She also teaches in the CC Summer program in Senegal. Read more here.

The Block Plan and Coronavirus

Numerous U.S. colleges have announced they will adopt some type of block format in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Part of the rationale is that students will have fewer classes to manage at a time, easing anxiety, and, for in-person classes, they’ll come into contact with fewer people at a time. The American Chemical Society magazine Chemical & Engineering News explores the concept in “Block plan compresses one class into a few weeks for deeper learning.” Read more here.

Quad Continues Amid Pandemic

The Quad Innovation Partnership is a joint initiative that provides consulting services to local for-profit, nonprofit, and municipal partners. Teams are comprised of students and faculty advisors from Colorado College, University of Colorado College at Colorado Springs, the United States Air Force Academy, and Pikes Peak Community College. Student analysts are paid for their work, and partners receive quality, interdisciplinary consulting from students who are connected to the local community. Currently in its fifth year, Quad has received local and statewide recognition and now sustains paid research and work opportunities for more than 100 students each year.

Watch the video below to learn about how Quad adapted to remote work during the Coronavirus pandemic, and read the full article here.