Oluyesi noted in his presentation that he wouldn’t be an astrophysicist without DEI outreach in his early years. 

He described two professors from the University of Southern Mississippi coming to his racially segregated school to provide underprivileged communities with STEM-related opportunities, and how the experience solidified his career.

“They say to me, ‘Yo man! You should become a physicist!’,” Oluyesi said. “I had no idea what a career as a physicist was. But what they did know is that I was already committed.”

Yang used her presentation to highlight the progress that’s been made by the OFCC and federal government, including new initiatives by the agency and executive orders by President Biden.

She also highlighted the current issues with diversity training in many workplaces, and how important a proper approach to such training is for DEI.

“We want to help employers understand that it takes a broader holistic strategy to increase workplace equity, and diversity training can be one important component,” Yang said. “But it requires understanding at the outset what your objectives are, an understanding of your culture, and what your needs are.”

Director of ANDIE Lab Angela Hall spoke on Friday, offering insight into the lab’s background and goals. 

While the lab initially served as a place to conduct DEI-related research, it now also serves as an informative resource for the community regarding such issues. Hall walked the audience through some of their current initiatives, such as analyzing hair discrimination and understanding police perspectives on accountability.

“What we decided is that the ANDIE Lab is not the only place where we could do research about accountability, non-discrimination, inclusion employments,” Hall said. “But we would also do things as being a repository of information for people to say, ‘Hey, we want to know what’s going on (on the) cutting edge on DEI’.”

Aside from the individual speakers, the conference hosted five panels discussing topics such as DEI and STEM, women in DEI and allyship. 

The message that rang out from all the panels was that while progress is being made in numerous DEI areas in workplaces across the United States, there is a lot more work to be done.

MSU Executive Associate Athletic Director Ashton Henderson was one panelist who echoed this message. In the “Emerging Issues in DEI” panel, he said the sustainability of DEI practices is an overlooked issue in the space.

“There's a misnomer that diversity of inclusion is just programming events, opportunities — things in which make people smile,” Henderson said. “However, there is a tactician and work that has to be done, and a strategy that goes into that, so we can create and cultivate a fully integrated model into your system.”