30th Annual Minority Health Conference

30^th Annual Minority Health Conference

Our students did it again! Once again, 30 years in a row, our students, under the leadership of the Minority Student Caucus, and 2009 conference chairs Stephanie Baker (HBHE doctoral student) and Kevin Wu (HBHE master’s student), created the largest student-led conference in the U.S. The North Carolina Institute for Public Health handled a lot of the logistic arrangements, and OJ McGhee, MA and his IIS colleagues ran the AV. People from across the School’s units, including Student Affairs, Communications, Global Health and External Affairs all helped. Felicia Mebane, PhD, Assistant Dean for Students and Assistant Professor Health Policy and Management,  and Vic Schoenbach, PhD, Associate Professor Epidemiology and Director of the Minority Health Project, were fantastic advisors.

This year’s theme was Our World, Our Community: Building Bridges for Health Equity. The event is so momentous that I will focus this week’s blog on it. First, anyone who has ever put on a conference or other big event knows that it takes a huge amount of behind-the-scenes work to pull it off. You’ve got to come up with ideas and themes, generate names of potential speakers, invite them, develop agenda, program, budgets, communication and promotion materials, block rooms, promote the event, arrange AV, and on and on. Our students do all this and so much more. Each year, I used to worry a little in the beginning about how they were going to do all this, and go to class, and hold down jobs and all the other things our students do. I don’t worry anymore. I just expect them to do it, because they always do. I don’t take it for granted, but I don’t doubt the capacity of this group of determined people to succeed.

Thursday night, the Minority Student Caucus, under Alrick Edwards’ excellent leadership, recognized some of the people who helped with this year’s event and also thanked and celebrated some of the heroes of public health who have been long-term supporters of the conference. They brought home for me what a rich history this School has of supporting minority concerns and overcoming health disparities. I am proud to continue this tradition.

A few things are especially notable about this year’s event. There were more than 540 registrants for the UNC-Chapel Hill event. In addition, five other universities participated through Internet or satellite connections. At University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, 230 people attended. So did people at Boston University, Tulane University, University of California Berkeley and University of California at Los Angeles. (These are links to the student group sponsors at each university.)

A conference that started in Rosenau Hall 30 years ago under the direction of then Associate Dean William T. Small, Jr., MSPH grew into a national phenomenon. Friday, this conference was the place to be for anyone interested in reducing health disparities. It was connected to the past but clearly a 21^st century event, with Internet and satellite transmission as well as in-person. It was wonderful that Bill and his wife Rosa were with us Friday.

This year marked the conference’s 30^th anniversary. A number of people who had been involved with the conference for many years returned, including Drs. Delton Atkinson, Dorothy Browne, Geni Eng (here as Professor), Rudy Jackson and Bill Jenkins. It was so great to see them all. We appreciate their continued support.

While I could not stay for the entire conference, I attended a couple hours Friday morning and did a brief but whole-hearted welcome. As I said in my remarks, never before was I grateful to have had difficulty finding a parking place! It was wall to wall people-energetic, enthusiastic, intelligent and committed. I was awed as I walked into the lobby of the Friday Center to see so many people focused on issues of minority health. It was a great sea of people.

Archie Ervin, PhD, Associate Provost, Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, gave wonderful opening remarks that really recognized the expertise of our School in diversity and reducing health disparities. We appreciated his presence.

Kevin Wu gave nice opening remarks. Stephanie Baker, in introducing the keynote speaker, Barbara Wallace, PhD, said that the organizers wanted to get away from this or that thinking, e.g. research or service, global or local. I could not agree more. Our problems are far too challenging to dichotomize them that way. I appreciate the students picking a global theme.

In a very thoughtful talk that mesmerized the audience, Dr. Wallace, addressed health equity and called for a new movement focused on civil rights and health equity. She talked about the important ways in which President Barack Obama has changed the nature of dialogue, by using phrases like work alongside you and by talking about a new era of responsibility. She also reminded us about the power of the conference itself as a temporary community, another force to achieve health equity for all.

A number of SPH faculty members gave talks, and we thank them: Drs. Siddiqi, Bennett, Behets, Smith, Wing and Foster. Many graduate students gave talk or moderated sessions, and their names are listed in program.

A lot has changed since last year’s conference. Many of the attendees had helped to bring about the historic change in our Presidency. We have major challenges to resurrect our failed economy, bring health care to all Americans and make ourselves energy independent. Our values about reducing health disparities and our commitment to it and our creativity, ingenuity, collaborations and intellect all will be needed as we rebuild the global economy, develop clean, affordable energy and reform health care. As I looked out on that sea of people – dedicated, smart, passionate and persistent – the future felt safe in their hands.

Thank you to all the students who participated in any way-and all our staff and faculty who made such a difference. Thanks to the attendees and exhibitors. This School is committed to reducing health disparities. We cannot do it alone.

And a thought: the Minority Health Conference is a tremendous educational experience. When I returned to the School and asked a student if she intended to attend, she very wistfully told me she had class. I know it is hard to change class schedules, but it’d be great if all our students had the opportunity to attend at least part of the conference.

I’ll be in D.C. a couple days this week-first time back since the election.

Happy Monday! Barbara