A California author and scholar on issues of race will deliver the keynote address March 11 during OASIS and Jackie Gaughan Mulitcultural Center Week.

Shelly Tochluk is the author of “Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk About Race and How to Do It.” Tochluk, the department chair of education at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, will focus her address on intent vs. impact and being an active agent for leading change.

Her speech, which is free and open to the public, is 3 p.m. March 11 in the Nebraska Union Auditorium.

Tochluk communicates from the perspective of a white woman, educator, and former All-American track and field student-athlete at UCLA. She seeks to examine deeper understanding of personal relationship to race, white privilege, and systemic racism. Her talk will explore the following questions:



• How can a deeper understanding of race help us avoid unconsciously injuring one another?

• How can developing an awareness of racial identity help communicate across race with less tension?



Questioning common claims that being “color blind” and “moving beyond race” are best practices for moving forward, this talk will explore why we shouldn’t avoid race as a subject, but instead must learn how to discuss the topic in order to understand one another as part of a diverse society.

An educator with a background in psychology, Tochluk spent 10 years as a researcher, counselor, and teacher in California’s public schools. She now trains teachers to work with the diverse school population in Los Angeles.

For a full calendar of events about OASIS and Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center Week, which begins March 10, click here.