by Jessie Kuenzel
Staff Writer

On Wednesday, April 2, the Like Minds Coalition presented the 7th Annual Student Multicultural Leadership Conference (SMLC) here at Simmons.

This year’s theme for the conference was intersectionality—the way that power and privilege are impacted by race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and other identities.

Held between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., the event offered nine different workshops and presenters throughout the day, with topics ranging from “Anti-Oppresive Event Planning” to “Navigating Discussions of Power, Privilege and Inequality in the Classroom.”

Featured speakers included Kim Crosby—a renowned artist, activist, and educator; Esteban Kelley of AORTA—a collective of educators who work to strengthen social justice movements; as well as a handful of Simmons students and faculty.

Like Minds Coalition, the hosts of SMLC, is a student group that is “committed to promoting a culture of inclusion that values and respects the diverse array of people, cultures, and human experiences at Simmons College.”

SGA representatives and student leaders attended the last session of the day, which was facilitated by Simmons tudents and Like Minds leaders Ahalia Persaud, Dee Moore, and Kate Connelly. The workshop led discussions about intersectionality, how it can factor in to a student’s experience at Simmons, and helped leaders examine how they could incorporate what they learned into their roles.

The Simmons community is looking forward to see what Like Minds will be bringing to the table for next year’s conference; with a high attendance rate, and a broad range of educational programs, it seems that this year will be hard to beat.