e for hello I am Dr Susan Dinger and it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the fifth annual Linda D wood lecture on diversity equity and inclusion in physical therapy this lecture honors the accomplishments of Dr Woodruff and challenges us to pursue progress in Dei with the passion integrity and humanism that characterizes Dr Woodruff Legacy this annual lecture is a collaborative effort of six organizations the physical therapy learning Institute American Physical Therapy Association the American Academy of Physical Therapy the National Association of black physical therapists the American Council of academic physical therapy and the apaa Academy of Ed education delivered around juneth each year this event celebrates Dr Woodruff by inspiring us to develop Innovations and solutions to the vexing Dei issues in our profession and Beyond we hope the lecture and panel discussion this evening will be a catalyst for personal and Collective action Dr Linda D Woodruff has been described as a Trailblazer a selfless leader and a passionate advocate for social justice she began a life of advocacy as a teenager in 1962 when she became one of the first two African-American students to integrate public schools in Lynchburg Virginia she earned her Balor degree and her graduate degree in physical therapy at Case Western University in 1971 and served first as a physical therapist at Memorial Hospital in Danville Virginia where she quickly recognized the devastating impact of Health disparities on minoritized patients that experience inspired Dr Woodruff to expand her professional reach as a practitioner researcher educator and Mentor all in service to those in need of Equitable Health Care in 1976 Dr Woodruff was the first black educator to be appointed as an assistant professor in the division of physical therapy in the school of medicine at the University of North Carolina in 1984 she received her PhD from Georgia State University conducting research on non-quantitative predictors of success in PT education that fit her drive to see equity and equality in professional education a woman of many firsts Dr Woodruff founded and directed an award-winning minority faculty Recruitment and Retention program at Georgia State University and developed the first postback La at Physical Therapy Program in Georgia as the founding chair of the Department of physical therapy at North Georgia College as a scholar Dr Woodruff received grants to support her research published more than 30 manuscripts delivered numerous National and international presentation and served as a medical educator in Brazil she was recognized with tenure at Georgia State University and served as a visiting professor at Alabama State University as a leader she was was a co-founder of the physical therapy learning Institute a founding member of the American Academy of physical therapy and she was pivotal in establishing and supporting apa's original advisory Council on minority Affairs its office of minority Affairs and the PT fund that continues to provide scholarships for minority students for her accomplishments she received aa's Lucy Blair service award and was honored postumus in 2023 by elction as an IA Katherine worthingham fellow Dr woodruff's impact is cherished by many leaders in our profession including our speaker tonight who proudly regard themselves as Woody babies and who have been permanently influenced by the strength and depth of Dr woodruff's wisdom throughout her career she persistently sought to increase the presence voice and impact of black physical therapists in the profession this lecture honors her passion and her expectation that we continue to pursue our Dei imperatives today we honor her Legacy with the fifth annual lectureship delivered this year by Dr Julian mige from Washington University a panel discussion will follow moderated by Dr Rebecca Seagraves and featuring comments from Dr Wayne Brewer Dr Shannon Richardson and Dr Kina corvis we know this will be a captivating and meaningful evening and hope you will join us for our full program tonight I am equally honored to introduce this year's Linda D wood rff lecturer a woody baby himself Dr Julian McGee holds the inaugural position of assistant director of diversity equity and inclusion in the program in physical therapy at Washington University in St Louis it is through this important position that Dr McGee is leading the collective commitment to University Equity inclusion and belonging and contributing to the efforts of the university and our profession to create a better future for students and faculty and the patients they serve Dr McGee brings nearly two decades of experience in physical therapy and athletic training originally an athletic training graduate of the University of West Alabama Dr McGee completed his Doctorate in physical therapy at Alabama State University it was here that he met and was mentored by Dr Woodruff first as a student and then as a new faculty member in the clinical World Dr M has served as a practitioner administrative leader and clinical instructor in Academia he has served as a on the faculty at Alabama State University and as director of the physical therapist assistant program at dayar College in Nashville Tennesse appointed in 2021 to his position at Washington University Dr McGee has added depth to this program's unique Competency Based curriculum in areas that blend his broad-based clinical experience and his commitment to bring Insight inclusion and Innovation to the Dei NB space currently Dr McGee is studying the structure and impact of the Dei positions that have emerged within DPT programs research that is funded in part by the physical therapy learning institute's Linda D Woodruff Prof professional development scholarship fund and supported by his participation in the grant writing and mentorship and education research program called gamer Dr McGee's Effectiveness in his current position has led to establishing a strategic plan for diversity Equity inclusion and belonging through which he leads a comprehensive array of initiatives aimed at cultivating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all stakeholders and visitors his leadership in these areas was instrumental in Washington University's program in physical therapy being recognized with apa's prestigious minority initiatives Affair in 2022 award in 2022 Dr McGee serves in leadership and liazon positions within the school of medicine at Washington University is a trustee for the PT fund through the apaa co-directs nab's emerging leadership program for black academics and physical therapy and is a member of aap's national Equity diversity and inclusion commission's task force on the culture of belonging Dr McGee has generously offered his time and talent to be an advocate for increasing diversity in the profession and promoting a culture of belonging in every aspect of our work Dr McGee we are thrilled that you have accepted the invitation to share your thoughts tonight and are certain that Dr Woodruff would smile at your professional success and celebrate your new directions in the academy she also would continue to expect all Woody babies and their colleagues to press on for Meaningful and permanent progress in ensuring Equitable education opportunity and healthc Care Dr McGee thank you Dr du singer for that introduction I have to pause to think that you were talking about me as you were speaking good evening everyone I'm Dr Julian M he him his are my pronouns I'm a black man wearing a blue suit a white collge shirt with a gold bow tie with blue uh polka dots Brown glasses and I am extremely honored to have been selected to deliver the 2024 Linda D woodu lecture on on Dei I would like to thank ptli AAP nabp AAP the APTA Academy of education apaa and most certainly my parents and all of my family friends colleagues and former and current Learners um that have touched and impacted my career and my life Dr Linda D woodu holds a special place in my heart um she was my professor at Alabama State University she was my professor a mentor sometimes I refer to her as a tour mentor and later a colleague you never had to guess when she was in a building let alone the room I hope that i' do her memory Justice with the talk that I give tonight in her honor Dr Woodruff is the epitome of a transformational leader Dr Woodruff and Dr uh Owen Cardwell Jr picture here after integrating EC glass High School in Lynchberg Virginia I cannot imagine what it took to walk into a building with everyone standing around you spitting at you aiming to make you fight or just give up just because you want access because you want a chance a chance to prove that you matter and that your life matters a chance to improve your situation in life and the lives of those around you Dr Wood's early life put her on the path to becoming a transformational leader she was trained in nonviolence by Dr Martin Luther King Jr she and Dr Owen Cardwell Jr broke down barriers when they integrated EC glass High School in lburg Virginia she continued to break down those barriers throughout the rest of her life continuing to use the lessons taught to her by Dr King to constantly push for change within the profession and Society to see hear and value those from historically excluded backgrounds particularly those of African-American descent now the realities of doing Dei work um my truth when I got the invitation from Dr ruple to be this year's wood speaker I was confused wondering if she had the right person then I was excited I was nervous and I was deeply honored then I had to face a hard truth which was that I was not sure and not just from dealing with impostor syndrome but because I had become hardened against the work of Dei the realities of doing Dei work is that it is not easy it's hard it's draining it's to be in a perpetual state of Madness being a black person a black man in particular in Dei work I feel the words of ball were never so deeply to be black in America and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of Rage almost almost all of the time and in one's work and part of the rage is this it isn't only what is happening to you but it's happening it's what's happening all around you and all the time in the face of the most extraordinary and criminal indifference I received re many messages congratulating me on being selected as this year's speaker there was one that came to me and it said I wish you all the best and I surely hope you will not talk about the death of Dei during your talk this message stuck out to me among all others because I because surely that was the path that I wanted to follow I had to think that this was somehow divine intervention so being a person of faith I had to do some deep reflection and find my wife to understand if I was just in a funk or had I truly succumbed to the whims of the current times and the attacks on Dei had I become a casualty in the war I took heed of the calling of do Van Hughes for my de fatigue taking my rst it was in the s or san Kofa where I imagine the conversation with Dr Woodruff and what she would say to me in this moment what she would demand of me that would challenge me to pick up the broken pieces of my hopefulness this is part of the foundation of my talk this evening my truth consisted of being disconsolate disappointed disenchanted and dis heart physical therapy is the science of healing and the Art of caring as Lis wishes stated in the 23rd sarasi lecture as Educators we cannot forget that there is a science and an art to both healing and caring the instinct to divide hard scientific and soft caring parts of what we do undermines a robust foundation for professional identity and professionalism healing needs both Art and Science it is the art that focuses on the human skills as my friend Dr Carla Bell likes to call them that this talk is rooted the understanding of empathy and compassion that is needed to be able to handle human suffering and Want to Be an Effective mediator and making things better it is in the Arts that I found myself looking to the words of Dr Kean in his last book where Did We Go From Here chaos or community and then his sermon of the same name delivered to the SCC in August of 1967 as I listened to the sermon it da da on me that I needed to turn my discouraged State into one of divine dissatisfaction it is not lost on me the irony and connection that led me to the words of Dr King for this woodu lecture especially since it was Dr King who taught Dr Woodruff the methods of nonviolent resistance so as I reflect back to my imagin conversation with Dr Woodruff just like the many we had in her office at Alabama State University her first point for me would be to reflect to look back when the fire was ignited and reignited for some when the passion for Dei was red hot that time I would call progress some significance event in physical therapy at that time around 2020 where the acap listening sessions around race and ethnicity they were changing the black landscape of the physical therapy profession there was moving forward the student experience and sophisticated insights to True progress how racism and social injustice reverberates in the black Physical Therapy Community we all wanted to do something after witnessing the murder of George Floyd the 2020 the year of so-called racial Reckoning in America I was able to sit down with Dr sonor Simpson and discuss her extraordinary life and her experiences in physical therapy as a student clinician and educator and that talk was broadcast throughout the physical therapy profession in 20120 we also had the inaugural Lindo D wood lecture by Dr Gregory Hicks who do we want to be responsible stewardship of our profession Dr Hicks encouraged us to think about our responsibility to increasing the diversity of the profession he taught us to think differently about diversity he told us that we do not lose when we increase diversity but we enrich the profession he Illustrated how the University of Delaware's PT program placed an emphasis on diversity and it did not harm their ranking or create a decline in outcome intentionality and the true commitment to Dei makes us all better also around this time after the so-called racial racial Reckoning there was an increase in Dei officers within Physical Therapy education the increase in these Dei officers should help to create ideas and spur innovation in leading the changes in the profession these individuals are highly skilled and have great ideas on how to push these efforts forward the individuals in these positions are doing amazing work and extraordinary work sometimes in spite of not being given the support and power that their positions deserve this list is not all exhaustive or allinclusive so if I have left anyone out it is my sincerest apologies we went beyond words we saw Dr D Matthews and colleagues challenged the profession through their article beyond the statement of support changing the culture of equity diversity inclusion in physical therapy they taught us to move Beyond just giving lip service to the problem they provided thoughtful dialogue and were transparent about their own challenges and left us with a blueprint to begin transformation they told us that we need action at an individual level and organizational level and at the professional and systemic levels we should engage in deep and humble listening educate ourselves analyze disaggregated demographic data scrutinized curriculum or programs for deficit minded views of minoritized populations we should Empower emerging leaders commit resources to the process we were also challenged by our colleagues through calling out races and crisis as The Crucible for change in physical therapy physical therapist education we were challenged to use moral courage and social reconstructionism to transform Physical Therapy education we were finally told that the habits of the heart were just as if not more important than the habits of the head and the hands we named racism as a crucial component to addressing Health inequities and disparities and we spoke to addressing racism within our curriculum even at the Prof professional level we saw an increase in the emphasis and importance placed on Dei with carbon Elliot being elevated to vice president of Dei for AP and the executive director of the physical therapy fund this followed the amazing work that was wonderfully led by Miss Janette meow we also saw a creation of a Dei board and an increased diversity of leadership throughout the apaa and itsm amazing strides had been made amazing work was being done and amazing people were being put into positions and given seats at the table that were long overdue conversations were being had again but this time there were some changeable and meaningful change but those efforts was shortlived in my imagined conversation with Dr Woodruff after she had me to reflect on where we were we come to where we are now and we move from that progress to a state of retrenchment throughout the history of the United States times of great progress in the causes of race and ethnicity have often been met with Fierce opposition and resistance this is known as retrenchment Whenever there has been progress there has been retrenchment reconstruction followed by Jim Crow the civil rights legislation and then legal policies and challenges and even societal changes like white flight after and then the so-called 2020 racial recing and the attack on Dei and critical race Theory in her 2021 wood Woodruff address Dr Charlene Porte asked us if we were ready to change I would say that she saw the Winds of opposition and the waves of challenge coming as she warned us to examine whether we are truly willing to embrace the necessary changes to achieve meaningful progress she challenged us to build sustainable practices that could withstand the Furious fight to come she reminded us that if we did not Center Dei in all that we do then we would diie 2022 brought Dr Lisa van whoo's diagnosis of Dei fatigue recognizing the exhaustion that can arise from continuous efforts to address systemic inequities while also providing us with an intervention in the form of rst representation sanova and trustworthiness this intervention serves as a reminder that representation matters that we must learn from the past to inform our present actions and that trustworthiness is crucial in building authentic and sustainable relationships it is not lost on me that in just two years after that supposed racial Reckoning of 20120 that Dr Van who recognized that we were already fatigued we were already sick and tired like Dr porti she had the foresight knowledge and wisdom to warn us to not that something's not quite right as my folks would say something is wrong with that poor B we got too comfortable and we celebrated too soon we got apathetic after winning a few small battles not realizing that the war was just beginning in her talk Dr Van Hughes highlighted that we are not only fatigued but some of us do not have the heart for this work I want to take that a step further and say that some of us and some of those Within in the profession and Society not only do not have the heart for this work but have a heart against this work we saw the Supreme Court rule against race conscious admissions in the entry to college in a 63 ruling the Court held that Harvard and uncc's admissions programs which account for race at various stages in the process violate the equal protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution the work of Edward Blum that has been out to take down affirmative action in anything related to Dei work scored a huge Victory here Blum has been working since the 1990s to remove race and ethnicity from education and now he has proven successful and has returned his attack towards Corporate America in a very recent ruling his latest victory was against the Fearless fund The Fearless fund created grants for black women business owners recently an appeals court found that the Fearless fund violated section 1981 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race when enforcing contracts the Reconstruction ER law was originally intended to protect formerly enslaved people from economic exclus inclusion but anti-affirmative action activists have been leveraging it to challenge programs intended to benefit minority own businesses this is the state that we find ourselves in as it relates to the attacks against anything Dei anti- Dei legislation has been introduced in 30 States along with 100 anti- Dei legislation bills Iowa has the most restrictive law thus far and the US Congress has introduced the educate act to ban Dei from being taught in medical schools these bills could impact a wide range of initiatives from defunding Dei offices and officers to removing diversity statements from hiring facts the Iowa law impacts the budget and includes a list of widely contested opinions that institutions cannot hold a position on including implicit bias cultural appropriation allyship transgender ideology microaggressions anti-racism systemic oppression social justice gender Theory and racial privilege again the educate act would cut off Federal funding to medical schools that for students or faculty to adopt specific beliefs discriminate based on race or ethnicity or have diversity equity in inclusion offices or any functional equip retrenchment is very real as we look at Physical Therapy specifically and belonging in PT Learners who identify as racial and ethnic minorities have been found to find less satisfaction with their PT education lower confidence in preparedness for entry-level practice a higher rate of mistreatment than their peers higher rates of exhaustion and disengagement but they have greater empathy and interest in working in underserved communities these are two components that lead to academic burnout racial and ethnic minority respondents reported having greater empathy and a greater interest in working in underserved commun unties if we can pause for a moment and just think about the people who are most likely to go out and work in underserved communities are leaving PT education already burned out how long will they last in the fight to transform the healthc Care Society how will we then be able to say we are working towards eliminating Health inequity and health disparity in addition to not belonging we have large numbers of attrition rates for individuals who identify as black and brown particularly for those who identify as males from the these groups as I'm reminded of that message that I received about the hope of not talking about the death of Dei solely I would be committing a Grievous action to not mention the current environment and my cause of discontent I cannot help but talk about the onslaught and politic politicization around the EI and its Concepts I must wonder how we will fight and win the war that is here right now how will we prepare ourselves for what is to come I must ask where do we go from here Revolution Divine dissatisfaction must be our Catalyst to stay in the fight to transform the health of society it is that inner voice that tells us there's more to be done more to be achieved and more to be experienced it is a feeling that arises when we recognize that we are not living up to our fullest potential this is the legacy of Dr woodu staying in the fight I would say that Dr Woodruff held Divine dissatisfaction as she lived and breathed it drove her to stay in the fight for what was right until she departed this world to continue to push back and challenge even when things look great to know that even though times and people change we must never rest on our Laurels and not be diligent in creating change for all Divine dissatisfaction ask us what kind of profession do we aspire to be and what kind of physical therapist and human being am I what is required of us to do what we all know is the right thing in order to transform the health of society we must take an imaginatively to put us on New ground in crisis as The Crucible for change we are challenged to use our moral courage and push the habits of the heart in propelling our profession forward to transform the healths of society we must embra the work we must embrace the work of the humanities as we boldly walk into being scientist and artist in order to transform Society we must not only be able to treat the human body but we must be able to recognize and walk alongside individuals in their suffering understanding and addressing the ultimate Human Condition in the 2023 wood lecture Dr Emanuel John states that the ability of the physical therapy profession to offer services to all segments of our population is not maximized says that we are unable to reach all parts of society because our inadequately diverse healthc care Workforce fall short of reaching all when we think about Divine dissatisfaction we must think about these elements to embrace self-reflection set audacious goals cultivate a growth mindset represent empowerment and representation and build community and coalitions as we Embrace self-reflection I want us to think about what our Dei report card would say as a profession what would our goals be what are the strategies we will employ to transform society and what those strategies work for the greater good of all focusing only on the science but not the art means we are doing half of what causes us to be a profession blaming learners for the shortcomings of academic institutions is counterproductive instead we must critically examine our systems and structures addressing the deeper rooted issues that perpetuate in equities this requires us to think differently act differently and adopt new approaches and perspectives be dissatisfied with not placing emphasis on the human skills empathy caring and understanding of individual idual that is required to be a transformative healthc care professional we must set audacious goals again who do we aspire to be transformation takes sacrifice takes hard work takes constant reassessment audacious goals do not allow for being stuck in satisfaction we cannot we can settle for convenience or we can be transformational but we cannot do both complacency and mediocrity have no place in the hands of people who aspire to do great things good enough has never been great for anyone and it rarely is good enough for most be dissatisfied with complacency be dissatisfied with mediocrity cultivate a growth mindset we must Embrace challenges and setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow the push for Competency Based education is a move towards a growth mindset within education we should embrace having our Learners see the beauty and failing failing again and failing better we must be dissatisfied with arbitrary standards in the pursuit of technical Perfection according to the work of shields mentioned earlier today's Learners struggle with embracing ambiguity I wonder if the struggle with ambiguity is due to curricula and individuals who demand perfectionism and binary choices instead of understanding what is required of Learners be dissatisfied with not being willing to give Learners the benefit of the doubt or not being able to recognize the value of learning differently be dissatisfied with not incorporating culturally responsive pedagogy into our curriculum as it relates to empowerment and representation we must make a seat at the table for historically excluded and marginalized individuals representation matters representation matters and I will say it one more time representation matters we must hear see and value those who are not the most represented be dissatisfied with the lies that we are colorblind society and that identity does not matter be dissatisfied when the value of our individual identities is denied recognizing that diverse identities intertwin is crucial our fight for equality cannot succeed without understanding the overlapping impact of race gender sexual orientation disability socioeconomic status and other dimensions of identity embracing intersectionality as a foundation for our work will help create a more inclusive Society we must build community and coalitions we cannot go about this work without each other Dr John reminded us the profession that without us we are incomplete power and privilege are things that we must share if we are to transform the health of society to achieve true transformation deib should not be treated as a standalone aspect isolated from the core of our programs or initiatives it should be fully supported empowered and elevated throughout all aspects of our organizations institutions and communities integration of deib principles into the very fabric of our systems will ensure sustainable and meaningful change let's move Beyond Al ship to being accomplishes in the work an ally can send me help but an accomplice walks hand in hand with me be an accomplice Divine dissatisfaction is not about perpetual discontentment and dissatisfaction for its own sake it is a call to continuously strive for personal and Collective Improvement to make a positive impact on the world around us this can be the Catalyst for revolution in our profession and our society as I close I know that times are hard and I know that some of you may be ready to give up and give in but I challenge you to turn your discontentment into Divine dissatisfaction time is finite and we only have but so much but if you are committed to the fight or want to be recommitted to the fight I want to leave you with a poem that Dr Benjamin e ma would recite to his Morehouse students I've only just a minute only 60 seconds in it forced upon me can't refuse it didn't seek it didn't choose it but it's up to me to use it I must suffer if I lose it give a count if I abuse it just a tiny little minute but eternity is in it we have an opportunity as a profession and we need each other in this effort to pick up the broken pieces of My Hope and wrestling with doing this work I was reinvigorated by re by reframing the feelings with me and learning about this Divine dissatisfaction I care because I'm dissatisfied with having to justify my presence or the presence for individuals who have been historically excluded or are from marginalized background and who are not always seen heard and valued I'm dissatisfied with having to do twice as much just to be accepted and still have my abilities and talent question Dei does not mean that we are less than that we are not capable and that we do not belong I more than dissatisfied with that lie I'm dissatisfied and I refuse to have to be a part of a profession or society that will not recognize all parts of you be dissatisfied with me be dissatisfied with being told that to help another means that I must limit the progress of someone else that is the legacy of Dr Linda D woodu thank you good evening my name is Dr Rebecca Seagraves and it is an honor to serve as the moderator for the fifth annual Linda D Woodruff lecture and panel discussion joining me tonight is a panel of outstanding lead the physical therapy profession please note that my brevity of their bios is an invitation for you to view the full description of their backgrounds on the apaa Linda D Woodruff webpage for tonight's lecture Dr Wayne Brewer is a full professor of physical therapy and coordinator Ator of the post-professional PHD program at Tex University in Houston Dr telina corvis is the assistant professor to the Education and Leadership PhD program and DPT program and she is currently serving as the interim director of the PHD program at Pacific University in Oregon Dr Shannon Richardson is an assistant professor for the College of St Mary's Blended doctor of physical in Omaha Nebraska and our esteemed speaker for the fifth annual Linda D Woodruff lecture Dr Julian McGee is an assistant professor and inaugural assistant director of diversity equity and inclusion for the program in physical therapy at Washington University of Medicine in St Louis thank you all for joining us this evening Lesson Four minutes into his lecture Dr McGee reconciles with two emotions after learning he would deliver the fifth annual Linda D Woodruff lecture on Dei and physical therapy shares the feelings of gratitude he has to honor The Life and Legacy of Dr Linda D Woodruff a transformational leader then he describes that to do the work of Dei is to be part is to be in a Perpetual state of Madness the Paradox here is powerful to feel Joy at reflecting on your life's work where it has taken you and the doors you have opened for others at the same time reconciling this with the perception that to help a person from a historically excluded background means you have to limit the progress of someone else to unpack this on our panel this evening Dr Brewer we'll begin with you at what specific point in your career have you encountered a similar Paradox where your work in diversity equity and inclusion has been tremendously rewarding leet has also put you in a state of Rage due to the question of this legitimacy thank you Dr CRA for that question and also just want to thank uh Dr McGee for such an impactful lecture um in regard to your question Dr crave so times when my di work has caused me a state of race AG I can think of about earlier in my academic career myself and a colleague of mine actually had a grant to improve the Recruitment and Retention of minority students here in Texas now keep in mind that Texas right now has some very restrictive laws for Di so this was a time that preceded that so what we would do is we would go around the state of Texas to various public schools to recruit minority students defined as African-American and Hispanic students to our program and we we had many successes we also had many challenges but the one particular challenge that I had was with one particular feed to school in which because this was a grant and we knew this grant was going to end at some point we wanted to establish a legacy with this school to continue to receive applicants from this particular school so we can allow at least the opportunity to review applications to actually improve our enrollment from students from this particular School in the process of establishing this agreement the individual at the particular school and that I'm discussing basically had a a notion about what we were doing in looking at it as sort of like a handout or sort of like a way to be uh dismissive of their students and I certainly reassured this particular individual that that certainly was not Our intention and they actually recognize the Excellence that this particular School puts out the Rage or at least of disappointment in me was the fact that this particular individual and the students were benefactors of our program but it also had to make me realize and re-evaluate how I presented Di and how oftentimes Dei is misinterpreted and misunderstood around the world around the nation in particular and that if this particular individual students are are direct benefactors of the program and this person felt this way then how would individuals who are not direct necessary benefactors would feel about di efforts recognize that benefactors of di is really everyone and particularly the the main stakeholder or main benefactor which is patients that really we all benefit from having a diverse Workforce but it was difficult to Fathom that here I was trying to provide a vehicle that provide a legacy for these students that this particular person of that school actually really question my intentions that certainly evoked a lot of rage and a lot of disappointment in me but also maybe reflect on how I present future di efforts there's almost a a feeling of being careful tiptoeing Dr corvis when I think of the the term the Sova this was the intervention that Dr McGee reflected on from the 2022 Linda uh dwoods ref lecture by Dr Lisa vanin hus and that term that may be lost on the current audience who's not familiar with that that lecture and I encourage everyone to to view that but the term means sanova is reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress and I'm reflecting on what Dr Brewer just shared will you Dr corvis uh kind of go through um almost a present day use of Sina Sina to resist that that that notion uh that Dei is taking away from someone else in order in order to benefiting um another person when it when in fact it it benefits everyone like Dr Brewer so eloquently stated yes thank you and that was that was exactly what I was thinking what what Dr Brewer had said about you know these these measures these practices these progress these moments of progress we're trying to make they benefit everyone and Dr McGee talked about this as well and in your lecture and I was still like taking notes while I was listening and I think about this in in two ways when I think about that that concept of Senova and what it's meant to me in my own practice and how I think I use it in a modern way it's really twofold so one is kind of um practically logistically and the other one is personally right and in both of those when I was thinking about it the what I kept going back to was the phrase you know this there that go back and get it right go back back and get that knowledge go back and get what we have known um and I think embedded in there for me is also the concept of go back and get yourself when it comes to what are we really supposed to be focusing on in these spaces so from a practical logistical standpoint right when people are pushing against Dei when people are saying like oh no this you know we don't need this or this shouldn't be here or this isn't benefiting the people that we have in our space right that you can kind of Vault over that concept and say okay let's go back further then right before we were using the term Dei let's go back to what we knew before we have bodies of research that show things we can look at sociology we can look at Psychology particularly non-western psychology right we can look at all of these other um areas of knowledge that we've gained our own cultural experiences and say okay well we don't have to talk about that in these terms if you can't digest it at this time right we can go and look at other documents we can go and look at other things we've learned in the past and still bring it forward and say we still know that these practices help everybody they help more people and uh Dr mcge when you were talking about you know the importance of centering the person of that the art and the science of what we do right the art of what we do is so intrinsically linked to the science of what we do you know as as physical therapists clinically sitting down with another person our job is to understand that person wholly right that is how we trans form Society in in the clinic right it's kind of like patient by patient and that practice in that micro level bringing what we learn in those interactions forward into bigger spaces that is how we can again pull back from what we know from who we are um and move that forward into like justifying what we're doing and then on a personal level I was thinking about how you know to to your point it's it's it's exhausting work right uh we have practitioners and students going into professions and academicians showing up who are already tired and go back and get it go back and get yourself I think we spend a lot of time in these systems and structures and we forget we we learn how to function within them right we learn how to do that dance and how to speak that language and we can sometimes forget to go back and say but wait but who am I and where did I come from and what can I learn from the spaces where I have felt the most satisfied right if we're going to use that dissatisfaction to drive us forward where have I felt the most satisfied what can I learn from that place what can I go back and get from there and hold on to as I move into spaces where I'm going to continue to push forward the initiatives of Dei and the initiatives of people who have come before us right what have we there's inherent in all that is what we've learned from them so beautifully said I mean I I think honestly when I think of uh Divine dissatisfaction I'm thinking of what are the consequences now on the DPT profession especially in education we Dr McGee just dropped stats that 30 states have introduced or passed 100 anti Dei legislation bills uh Dr Richardson what do you think are the direct consequences of this on D on DPT education yeah thank you for that question Dr craves I think that this also goes along with your first question regarding the questioning of the legitimacy of that type of Dei work and kind of to Dr Brewer's initial response and I think that that legislation it's planted a seed of Doubt for some people and it really makes them start to second guess their efforts um in the realm of Dei and it creates some fear regarding push back and retribution I've had conversations with people about whether or not they should do something or how they brand a different type of Dei effort because of concern that there could be some sort of push back and I think that that's truly the goal of this type of legislation even if there isn't any direct retribution for someone the fact that it makes them that it SWS doubt and make someone second guess those efforts is really it's anything to kind of quell that progress that has been made and I believe that any decrease in these Dei efforts could have a grave impact on the number of Learners that are entering pte and PTA programs and it will erode the support that they receive and getting through these programs and reaching graduation as we all know it has been a really slow and pain saking effort to make a just tiny modom of progress and as we often see anytime there's some sort of progress It's always followed by some sort of backlash or push back and I think that's what we're seeing with this legislation and so I think at the end of the day the the real goal the real outcome is that it's it's hampering those efforts and it's even creating a small amount of fear and this is really going to have a reduction in the support and the number of students that we see from those historically minoritized and marginalized identities Dr Micky that that brings to mind the term you use of retrenchment right the backlash and uh and you shared that you received a letter that was encouraging you tonight to not talk about the death of Dei uh particularly in this lecture that's intended for the physical therapy profession um but halfway in you Illustrated where the death of Dei was occurring in other sectors specifically with college admissions after the 2023 Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action and in corporations were funding programs that I specifically have benefited from I I would not have been able to start my and grow my business without a fund that was dedicated to black female entrepreneurs those are being blocked and so I I I like I would like to know and I know our audience listening would like to know why did you feel it was important to inform physical therapists on where Dei initiatives are being threatened throughout the United States thank you Dr C Grace um and I can want to speak to that letter I I really feel like it was one to say well let's be hopeful you know let's not focus on the negative here and again I feel like I have to be transparent to I still have my hope and as the lecture showed my hope is reinvigorated but I have to also think about the realities and we think about PT especially for those who are in the education realm I think we we only think about it as that in the academy and somehow we're safe but it's also a business we're a profession we we want to and if we are really going to be able to think about the fight if we're going to think about transformation and Revolution we have to look at all sectors if it's happening here it's only a matter of time that it will be there so that's why I wanted to point out all the areas not just from PT not just education we we are centered in academic and the walls of the Academy of around us are under attack then it will be our programs that are next it will be at the door if um business to what you do and your wonderful work in Maternal Child Health and pushing your business forward then if you are a black woman in this space and we've just seen what happened to The Fearless fund so what does that mean is it's not just an attack on truly giving someone a grant it is an attack on um the progress for black Maternal Child Health and therefore it will perpetuate inequity and disparity and if we don't know where to fight then how can we know how to strategize we look at every area and I can see what they're doing in Texas I can see what they're doing in Iowa I can see what they're doing here and I can try to find a plan I can see what the educate act in the federal government is doing right on US Congress is saying these things anding bills that potentially will have an impact on what we do how can we transform Society if we are continuing to say under the guise of we're really trying to do it for all but yet we're blocking some when progress has never been intended for everybody and when we see everybody get on board for Progress then we see um the fight come against us retrenchment um the push back and and not just a push back um it is made legal it is structured it goes back to the original systems we try to make it about the law and even looking at laws from 1866 that were designed to rectify the horrors of slavery or to begin to rectify the hores of slavery are now being used to again push us against the margins and keep us out to keep us and I mean us as from progress Dr McGee you hit a nerve I'm going to tell you right now when I think of over 50% of child births in this country are being covered by Medicaid and then you went through burnout in the DPT educational um uh realm with students being the ones who are going after those underserved populations but then the minoritized students being at the highest risk of burnout to me when I think of defunding Dei initiatives and DPT programs and other higher education programs the people who are getting hurt are are like what you said black maternal Health those those recipients of our care and people don't have that kind of scope and so I want this to be a question that all of us um we really Ponder on and Dr Brewer I'll start with you in universities where EI offices and budgets are being cut where do you see an opportunity for educators and accompli I'm going to use that term accompli to prioritize Justice Equity diversity and inclusion within the curriculum specifically within DPT curriculum yeah yeah thank you for that question and that's and I think with Dr McGee discussion really resonated me with regards to accomplishes an allyship and I think no better place could it be than an AC in the academic realm now certainly we Face challenges and we Face some restrictions depending on where you are again I happen to be in a state that has some pretty strict restrictions but still whether you want to defund di di offices remove remove uh Personnel you can't defund the facts and the facts are is that we recognize that minoritized populations suffer disproportionately from various chronic diseases Dr craes you're in the area of maternal and child health so we recognize the the mortality rates for for black black women giving birth from cardiovascular diseases which is C certainly something near and dear to my heart and again excuse the pun that cardiovascular diseases again disproportionately affects minoritized individuals so we can't we can't ignore the facts that certainly within our courses within our cours work we can discuss these things we need to make our students aware of these of these factors we also need to make our students understand what are the various social and demographic factors or social determinance of Health that impact these things I mean we would do first of all we would do our students we would also do our our stakeholder our main stakeholder which is our patient a major disservice if we just totally bow down and not talk about these factors that have a severe impact on our patients well-being so again you know def funding these offices from understanding what the laws are May influence employment May influence um selection of or or or factors that we use to uh determine students are admitted but you cannot remove the facts and we certainly as Acom additions need to rise up to the challenge and not shy away from these factors that influence our outcomes our patients that we are so endeared to to ensure that their well-being is is is made whole so again it it all comes down to the benefactors it all comes down to ensuring that we provide the best Workforce that we can which means an educated informed culturally sensitive Workforce and that's certainly within our purview despite what whatever the laws are are put in place beautifully said Dr corvis would you add to that other opportunities that you're seeing Educators doing uh that you yourself your colleagues are already doing to really prioritize Jedi in the curriculum yeah speaking to the curriculum I think what I've seen in my own practices and the programs that I work with and I work with in several is really that integration piece that Dr McGee said right that it is it is something that should be embedded in every aspect of what we are teaching in every aspect of what we are practicing and to look at it as something that is outside or other right that needs to be a separate officer consideration and then thought like okay well let's look at where this is relevant as opposed to this is always relevant right so I think the most progress I've seen in that is is that shift in the lens is that if we look at every single topic we teach we look at every single concept we approach with looking at it holistically right our current approach um and look at it and our historical approach to it and say like all of this is relevant so that's when I've that's when I've seen it the most effective show up in the most effective ways is that just pure integration not viewing it as something separate but looking at where is it already embedded and how can we just Elevate what is already there so Dr Richardson in in Practical terms say you're teaching muscular skeletal uh you know in the muscular skeletal realm and you're teaching a first year PT student you want to principles how are you doing that in a practical sense Dr seer I I was your mic cut out for just a second do you mind repeating that part of the question please absolutely absolutely and just just give me feedback but in terms of just practical ways of where you're in Dr corvis said where you're integrating a Dei or Jedi principles into the curriculum what are some practical ways that a that a muscular skeletal a professor would do that yeah so um thank you for that question there there's a lot of really small and I think the small things can make a huge difference and Dr McGee mentioned in the lecture about the concept of cultural responsive pedagogy and it's really kind of connecting and making students feel inclusive and meeting them where they are so it can be something as using um a variety of different types of names and identities in your case examples so you're not just having certain types of names but you um have a variety of identities that are there um even for us we use body charts which are a significant portion of the muscular skeletal curriculum on there we kind of use a body chart that doesn't necessarily have a clearly defined gender it just needs to have the body parts on it these are small types of things where it's just that we're making it so that it feels more inclusive and supportive for students um we try to integrate more Equitable grading practices we try to make it so that students aren't punished for having a different starting point when they come into the curriculum in our classes so they get a chance as Dr McGee mentioned it's okay to fail and to not know something at first the process of learning involves you not knowing things at first and so sometimes it takes a couple attempts to do that so there's a lot of small things along those lines where we can make it so that students feel safe and it's a bold space where they can make mistakes and that they do start to feel like there's a support and the ability for them to be able to grow into what they need to be and that comes from making them feel supported and kind of being that win behind their sales so if you don't make them feel that way then students aren't willing to kind of take a risk and put themselves out there and we know that this is particularly significant in those with those historically marginalized and minoritized identities whether that be their sexual identity or their racial or ethnic identity those students have as Dr McGee mentioned and alluded to in that paper they have less satisfaction they have a more challenging time when they're in school and when you can start to address those elements and create a better exper learning experience for them in school that as Dr Brewer mentioned is something that will lead to better outcomes for those patients that have those similar identities all of this really ties into creating a better experience and better outcomes for the patients and the population which is ultimately the end result of all of these efforts thank you Dr Richardson I think one of the recurring themes I hear and especially from students who are really concerned with of just burnout being in school but their future their financial future uh Dr you spoke about anti-affirmative action activists that are leveraging reconstruction error law that was supposed to benefit minority owned businesses and so from standpoint how are DPT Educators Dr McGee preparing students from these marginalized backgrounds to be financially sustainable within the physical therapy profession salaries poor reimbursement rates for insurance covered Services what are we doing to set these students up for success in a practical sense was that for me Dr C gra that's that's that's for you Dr McGee yes okay okay it cut out there for a second um I think we have to start bringing in um individuals to talk about these things um we have to think about what that looks like I I had a conversation with the Learners today talking about her debt and this uh student is from one of those historically excluded backgrounds she talked about the value of Education to her family she's the only one to go to college then to go further and she said well her parents told her that if it was that important then it would be beneficial and give her something that she could hold on to to be sustainable and to have an impact then they would take on the debt and they would help her but they're also thinking about um the the impact of that so we talked about what is it to work for what what does a nonprofit look like what what um kind of services out there public service long forgiveness and other things and even though that that may be under a threat but we talked about what it is to manage your debt and we we have to start having these conversations and again I'm no financial advisor but I can offer my advice but we can bring these individuals into our programs into um even our practices just to begin to think about how we manage just financial literacy because again for some of us that that was not something that um was discussed in my house growing up it was just you save and then you if you buy something you pay it off before you move on to something else so to understand educational debt um is something else Al together so I think we have to provide a service we can't look at education as just something that we come in we stand up we give this knowledge and we allow people to leave we have to or we should be um holistic in every aspect that we do again it is the art it is how do we help the individuals that are there again what kind of profession do we aspire to be and what kind of human being and physical therapist do we aspire to be we we should not allow our Learners our students to leave us broken in damaged in any way what can we do to add to them and sometimes we have to spend and invest in their well-being all aspects of that wellbeing be that mental Financial Health because yes even if I'm in a place where 60% of the students may not have these questions we have to think about the 40 and if we build for the 40 the 60 will always be better equipped because of it and that's how I think of it you know um when I when I when when I look at how we design our program think of who is the one person here and if we're building for that one surely we're going to Encompass the other 90 that are here but the one person who stands out or the fewest you know it's it's opposite mind we can cover the majority but if we don't think about those who are in the least of the numbers they're going to be left behind and I would do anyone of the service if I didn't think about everyone in my program so if if I think from that least of stand um aspect then we build towards that and we do that for offering um again sessions and lectures around your financial management we talk about salaries what do it mean to make $65,000 versus $80,000 how do you save for that how do you manage that what is your um in insurance cover what are your benefits what is the compensation package we bring people in to talk about that we have business owners come in we have Clinic owners um we bring in the larger corporations to talk about how our Learners can think about things how do you negotiate because a lot of times for some of us it may be the first time we have been faced with having these discussions and when I always used to say when I was in school well I make 0,000 a year so to offer me 20 seemed like I was getting a huge bump so I needed somebody say that's not enough you're being underpaid and um just understanding what that means and then we translated to what do you have to do you know um to be productive and Clinic what does productivity what do productivity numbers numbers look like what does it mean how do you justify your salary here and then another thing that I try to do for my Learners is to say if you are only using your degree to be a rehab specialist only using about maybe 60% of your capability how do you make this work for you be an advocate somewhere go out and offer to be a consultant you have more skills and um gain from your DPT education that you may be aware of and here are some ways that you can do that and then we try to find individuals who are diverse across many different identities and intersections to come in and talk about that how have they made an impact using social media and you know not that they're an influence but they may have a podcast they may be offering this service you know they have an interest in sports and so they want to tie that in and how do you go beyond just being a rehab professional you have so much more you are so much more and you have to kind of repeat that message especially for those who haven't been taught that or have ever seen examples of those Nam Dr Dr corvis what Dr McGee just landed on is leveraging skills within the Prof to Leverage The Profession itself and so with with your kind of to kind of round out this conversation I want us all to speak on this but how do you inspire other leaders and students now to stay resilient in the fight to improve the health in society with that Divine dissatisfaction what would you say to professionals who are listening to stay resilient in this fight Dr corvis oh thank you this is a very difficult question and I sat with this for a long time because I think resilience is sometimes overrated right we talk a lot about stay strong stay strong stay strong stay resilient stay flexible stay sustainable right like that is where the resilience lies think back to what does it take to remain in the place that you want to be and I would say that resilience doesn't always have to look the same right like continuing to stay where you are continuing to do what you do continuing to hold on to the goal that you have without maybe allowing it to evolve might be um actually working against you and so I would say stay flexible and it's okay to recognize that you need to make a change in order to continue moving forward towards your goals right in order to continue making progress because again to what Dr McGee said if you're you know only using you know if you're only being a rehab professional you're only using about 60% right you can do so many things right get into um committee work get into local politics get into you know mentoring not even in physical therapy right what other passions do you have in your life and where can you start pouring yourself into those spaces because if you can bring up more people and then be an example be a guide you can help to still create a healthier world you can increase and improve the diversity in physical therapy but you know Physical Therapy can also improve the lives of people outside of our profession right that's our goal right transform the world so that's what I would say Dr Brewer what Dr flexible flexible is the term resiliency uh is overrated I I couldn't agree more what would you say to listeners today clinicians both students in order to remain flexible but then resist that comp that complacency to nothing to succumb to Dei fatigue if you will Dr Brewer I'm I'm sorry could could you repeat just that last part of the question what would you say to the listeners today um to encourage them to resist being complacent to resist the Dei fatigue got it well I think you have to always constantly re-evaluate you know re-evaluate your goals re-evaluate what you're aiming for and you know I certainly understand di fatigue and I think it's important to really sit back and think about for one celebrate you know your your wins because whether they're big wins or small wins I think it takes a lot to really make a change in the DI realm but I think you have to start to look at what are some of the small changes that you can make to chip away at the big picture I also think again one of the things that Dr McGee mentioned with regards to allly ship is you know how can we en engage individuals who have the interest in Dei in mind but may not know how to go about and approach it how can we bring them more in the fold to get them to be accomplishes so I think if everyone is involved in doing just even small bits of work whatever that work may be whether it's mentoring someone whether it's you know spreading the word about physical therapy in various communities again no matter how restrictive the place that you're in like I said I'm in Texas we certainly can do we certainly can do those things and just individuals about what physical therapy is as a profession so imagine if we can get just several individuals doing something just on a small scale how much that can add up and magnify itself but then also by the same token engage these individuals to periodically reflect on what they're doing and if there's if there's times where you need to Pivot and do something else or times we just may need to take a break and that's fine too because it is hard work and sometimes it can also be in many cases lonely work so we can get as many people on board with doing just bits of tasks to improve the Dei landscape I think we'll see a tremendous a tremendous change in that regard can't we what's I think what's the old saying you know if you want to go fast go alone but you know if you w to go make a big impact you go slow and bring as many people with you I know it's probably a long winded way for that particular saying but what I'm trying to say is that you need to surround yourself with people people who have di interests in mind and bring them into the fold and show them whatever they're willing to do that it can make an impact thank you Dr Brewer Dr Richardson McGee left us with a call to action to to to revolutionize uh the profession leave the listeners if you can with some action that you want them to take away from tonight's discussion so I know it cut out the last part you said with a message for them to take away from the discussion is that what you said exactly I think that it really kind of plays off of all these things I really like the it it just comes down to really kind of sticking this out and contining to push forward um Dr Brewer and Dr corvis just kind of mentioned that you know you need to be flexible we talk about resiliency and I would say I completely agree that resilience is is overrated um when you really think about it if the systems work the way they were supposed to we wouldn't have to be so damn resilient all the time if things were more Equitable and we were more supported in those spaces but I think that a big thing when you get lost is really thinking about your why like why am I doing this and whether you're thinking about Linda Woodruff you're thinking about different patients you're thinking about your family really your why can help keep you grounded on why you're doing these types of things and to Dr Brewer's point is finding other like-minded people you're not doing this alone and when you find and connect with those other individuals it can really make this a lot easier to continue to push in this fight because there's a lot of resistance and as history has told us whenever we make some progress there's always going to be a backlash and a push back to that you have to be ready for that and you can find that support in finding other individuals and remembering your why to be able to do that and then I think um lastly and this is a big thing especially hear this kind of generationally is practicing self-care Sometimes the best way to remain resilient is to step back and say I can't handle this right now I don't have the bandwidth to be able to do this and sometimes rather than making progress you're winning just by staying in the game so you got to take some time back and if you need to say like no I can't help with this or asking for help sometimes that's kind of the best way forward is just to try to stay in the game and rather than trying to take on too much because we've seen from a number of different sources and we've all probably experienced or seeing this in other people is burnout is something that's very real and so the more that you try to take on the less support that you have you can really reach that point so I think that the takeaway here is to try to stay in the proverbial game and that's by using all of these different types of sources so we can remain resilient and continue to make progress despite all the seeming push back and resistance that we might feel excellent Dr McGee will you bring us home please I will say I I I agree with everything that has been said and I ask myself you know first being honest with yourself I started this talk off with saying that you know I had the question whether I still want to do this I knew where I was um in admitting those emotions first I thought it was admitting defeat but no it was just admitting my reality and how do I get back was go through and reflect and I think that's something we all should do and not just focusing on burnout but compassion fatigue which I is more dangerous for those who are in the helping professions and because the potential for that means that I've lost my ability to be empathetic and we all in this profession have the the honor to walk beside we don't fix people we don't fix injuries but we walk beside people in their discomfort in their life changing moments and that is an honor and so I I I come away from this to ask myself am I satisfied with anyone being left behind and that is my rural white student from Iowa but that is also the black student from East St Louis who is just trying to have a chance to make a difference in anybody in between So Satisfied with good enough and I can't be you shouldn't be that's not how we transform that's not how we revolutionize take care of yourself mentally physically and emotionally find the thing that Spurs you on tap into that and remember that you are making change every day even when it doesn't feel like it to be the first to be the only or otherwise different is always hard but there are those of us out there with you we build community we build Coalition we are your accomplice you know I'm gonna drive the getaway car for you um these people here all of you um and and that's I think where you find your ability to go on so I'll leave with that panelists thank you so much I speak on behalf of our audience and this panel of our esteemed colleagues to thank youing lecture to our panel I want to thank you for sharing on how we can personally and collectively be the Catalyst for revolution in the physical therapy Prof and for the health of our society to those of you who are listening thank you for your attention we hope that the legacy of Dr Linda D Woodruff tonight's lecture and our discussion are a catalyst for you to personally and collectively make a positive Improvement on the world around us time