Cal Poly to host free diversity talk

Visiting Cal Poly professor Gilda L. Ochoa will speak next month about how “well-intended movements for diversity and celebrations of academic excellence can maintain the status quo and reproduce inequality in institutions of higher education,” according to Cal Poly officials.

The free public presentation, to be held at 6 p.m. April 7 in the Performing Arts Center Pavilion, is titled “Unpacking Diversity and Excellence: Lessons for Institutions of Higher Education.”

Ochoa will discuss discrepancies between what people and institutions say and do to enhance diversity, inclusion and equity, as well as possibilities for change. Her discussion will include lessons from her studies of high school students and her experiences at Cal Poly.

Ochoa is a professor of sociology and Chicano/Latino studies at Pomona College and the author of three books and numerous articles.

She’s teaching two courses in Cal Poly’s ethnic studies department before her time on campus ends with her April 7 lecture.

Ochoa is available for additional community presentations. She can be reached at giochoa@calpoly.edu.

This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Cal Poly to host free diversity talk."