Darden hosted its fifth annual Diversity Conference last week, welcoming prospective students from across the country (and even a few international attendees as well!). This in-person event in Charlottesville, Virginia had a special focus for prospective students from diverse backgrounds, including women, LGBTQ+ and members of domestic under-represented racial or ethnic communities.
Programming kicked off with virtual events on Wednesday, 19 October, featuring a welcome from the student planning committee, an “Ask Me Anything” Student Panel and a virtual dinner with Learning Team groups.
The in-person highlights on Friday and Saturday also included a networking event at the Quirk Hotel (check out the drone photo below!), faculty panel, case discussions led by Senior Associate Dean and Global Chief Diversity Officer Martin Davidson and Professor Elena Loutskina and an affinity brunch with many of Darden’s student-led clubs and organizations.
Christian P.L. West, senior director of global diversity, equity and inclusion recruiting, shared, “The
Diversity Conference was a prime way for prospective students to understand the Darden experience through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Students engaged with our affinity groups – which play a major role in building students’ sense of community – and heard from faculty on the ways they create an inclusive classroom through the case method. With the return to an in-person format after hosting it virtually for a few years, prospective students were able to leverage informal social connections with current students to best understand the Darden experience.”
View photo highlights from the event below:
