Natalie Tindall, department chair for the Lamar University Department of Communication and Media, will serve as a guest speaker for Race in the PR Classroom. This three-part series is hosted by the institute for Public Relations and the PRSA Educators Academy and will be held on Thursday, June 11, AT 11 a.m. CDT.

The focus of the series is to listen, learn and create action for change, and the goal is to identify action steps that faculty can take to better embed race in the PR curriculum and help students. Tindall, an advocate and leader for race and gender issues at Lamar University, will be one of three panelists leading this open discussion.

“During the next academic year and for as long as it takes, as long as I am the academic leader of the Department of Communication and Media, I will work with this campus community to chart a way forward,” said Tindall. “The way forward will include amplifying muted voices, expanding anti-racist resources internally and externally, increasing diverse content in our classrooms, creating space and time for uncomfortable but necessary conversations and working to drive change.”

This series will address the current state of PR education – from understanding the pervasive issues of race in higher education, to learning the best practices, strategies and tools for addressing race in the classroom, to looking long term, regarding how to create systemic change, particularly creating a more diverse PR faculty and more diverse pipelines of practitioners.

Everyone is encouraged to participate in this discussion. To register, please visit instituteforpr.org/race-in-the-classroom.

For more information about Natalie Tindall and the Department of Communication and Media, please visit lamar.edu/communication.