Thursday, October 9, 2025 | 1:30–3:00 p.m. ET

The panel will explore the ways higher education institutions can continue to engage in civic dialogue, maintain public trust, and contribute to the public good in a time of political polarization and social transformation. In today’s climate of mistrust, political polarization, and digital misinformation, higher education is grappling with its purpose and trajectory. This discussion will help both name the tensions and surface solutions— cultivating a shared sense of responsibility for the civic health of our institutions and democracy.

Panel Objectives:

• Examine the role of universities in shaping democratic discourse and civic belonging
• Explore the challenges of promoting media literacy and community-based dialogue
• Highlight institutional strategies for engaging across difference on campuses and in the broader public sphere
• Reflect on leadership approaches to fostering public trust and responding to the socio-political pressures facing academia

Moderator

Jamal Watson, Ph.D. — Dr. Jamal Watson is an award-winning journalist. He has held numerous roles at Diverse: Issues In Higher Education, including senior staff writer, managing editor, executive editor, and editor-at-large, contributing since 2005. He serves on the graduate school faculty at Trinity Washington University and has been a professor and associate dean of graduate studies since 2019. He is a contributor to The Washington Monthly and a regular television commentator. In 2025, Education Week listed him among the nation’s top 200 university-based educators who influenced education policy in 2024. A native of Philadelphia, Watson earned a B.A. in English and Theology from Georgetown University; an M.S. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism; an M.Ed. in Higher Education from the University of Delaware; and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Afro-American Studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His writings have appeared in The Hechinger Report, The Baltimore Sun, and USA Today. He is the author of a forthcoming biography of the Reverend Al Sharpton and The Student Debt Crisis: America's Moral Urgency, published by Broadleaf Books in September 2025.

Panelist

Belinda Biscoe, Ph.D. — Dr. Belinda Biscoe has over 35 years of management and leadership experience in higher education, common education, and the non-profit sector. She manages a staff of over 1,400 administrators, trainers, and support personnel and oversees a budget of over $125,000 across 17 departments. The majority (99%) of funding in Outreach comes from grants, contracts, and fee-for-service programs. Her service to adult and higher education includes research and evaluation, administration and program/community development, grant writing, and professional development. She has led and supported units focused on higher education, common education, literacy, workforce development, disability education and training, human relations, executive training and team development, health and human services, public radio, American Indian education and health, and mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment. As a researcher, practitioner, and competitive grant writer, Dr. Biscoe has secured more than $400 million in funding, leading to transformational programs in Oklahoma and beyond.

Panelist

Fanta Aw, Ph.D. — Dr. Fanta Aw is the executive director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the world’s largest association dedicated to international education and exchange. She is dedicated to addressing pivotal issues in higher education and is a champion for innovation and transformation, speaking to the importance of humanity coexisting with artificial intelligence and the responsibility of educators in preparing the next generation of empathetic leaders. Over more than three decades at American University, she held leadership roles including vice president for undergraduate enrollment, campus life, and inclusive excellence, advancing international education, diversity, and global engagement. Originally from Mali, she has lived in East and West Africa and the United States, and has traveled to more than 70 countries. A widely recognized voice on internationalization, student success, and the role of higher education in society, her expertise has been featured by CNN, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Economist, Bloomberg, Agence France-Presse, USA Today, the Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, NPR, and more.

Panelist

Amanda Taylor — Amanda Taylor is the assistant vice president for civic and global engagement at AASCU, where she leads national initiatives supporting regional public universities in preparing students to be engaged citizens and globally conscious leaders. She brings over 20 years of experience as a higher-education leader and faculty member. Previously, she served as assistant vice president for inclusive excellence at American University, working with campus stakeholders to implement the university’s strategic plan, including dialogue practices to enhance campus climate. She also directed a graduate program in intercultural and international communication in the School of International Service. Taylor holds a doctorate in education from Harvard University and a bachelor’s and master’s from the University of Virginia.

Friday, October 10th, 2025 | 8:15am-9:45am ET

The panel will elevate student voices as they reflect on the value of higher education in preparing them for today’s evolving job market. As higher education institutions navigate its shifting role in society, how does it adequately prepare students in an evolving labor market, address skills gaps, and promote lifelong learning pathways—particularly as technologies like AI transform industry expectations.

Friday, October 10th, 2025 | 12:00-1:30pm ET

Session Description:

Presenter Bio: Traevena Byrd has served as Vice President, General Counsel and Board Secretary for American University in Washington, DC since 2018. She is a member of the President's cabinet and chief legal advisor to the university's executive officers and Board of Trustees, overseeing the provision of legal services for the university and managing governance operations. She is currently the immediate past-chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), Chair of the Children’s Law Center of Washington, DC., a member of the University of Iowa Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Arts and Sciences, and is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Traevena previously served on the accreditation commission for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) and she is a frequent presenter on higher education legal issues, most notably on the subject of free speech and student protest. 

Traevena previously worked as Vice President and General Counsel at Towson University in Maryland; as Title IX coordinator, EEO investigator, adjunct faculty member, and associate general counsel at Ithaca College in New York; and as Director of the Commission on the Status of African Americans for the State of Iowa. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where she received both her Bachelor of Arts in African American World Studies with honors and her Juris Doctorate.