MRKC Reflections on #NASPA15

Greetings! If you were in attendance at NASPA 15, we hope you were able to learn and connect at the conference. On behalf of the Leadership Team, we’d like to take a few moments to reflect on our conference experience.

As a recap, this conference included our very first Pre-Conference Workshop, two sponsored sessions about mixed-race identity (thanks for your great contributions @NicholasFranco and Jessica Harris), released our iBook project, hosted an intersection of identities roundtable, engaged with new friends at our KC social and during the KC fair, and of course got down to business during our leadership team and business meetings. Whew! We invite you to follow us on Twitter @MultiRacialKC and on Facebook to see photos from our adventures in NOLA and to keep up with our community, news and upcoming projects! In our #MRM Multiracial Monday Monthly email, we’ll be revealing plans for the next few months.

Until then, here are some thoughts from our leadership team that sum up what so many of us were rethinking and experiencing after sharing quality time and ideas during the conference:

Christina Wan, one of our co-chairs, remarked that she “is looking forward to working with the incredible Leadership Team that we have to further the goals of the MRKC.” She was also energized by the conversations at the conference around multiracial identity and is looking forward to what continuing the work within the KC this year.”

Similarly, as a first-time national NASPA attendee and new-to-the-leadership-team, Abby Chien, co-chair of Communications, was humbled by the support, excitement and future plans for the KC.

Matthew Jeffries, a co-chair for research, shared some of his thoughts on the Pre-Conference workshop, Embracing Affinity with Audacity: Exploring Multiracial Identity. For Matthew, a meaningful discussion focused on the Supreme Court Decision Loving v. Virginia (1966), the landmark case that overturned a ban on inter-racial marriages, and he shared that it’s been impactful to reflect on the impact of the case today. Matthew also expressed enthusiasm for future conversation about international adoption and looks forward to integrating new knowledge into the MRKC community.

We are excited for what this year will bring and invite you to engage with our dynamic KC in the upcoming year.  We welcome you to engage with us on social media, or to reach out to us directly at multiracialkc@gmail.com.