The Brown Model: Pathways to Inclusion and Belonging National Tour

Connecting the greater Brown community with the University’s leading-edge work to foster inclusion and belonging on College Hill.

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The Brown Model: Pathways to Inclusion & Belonging National Tour is an initiative by Brown University aimed at showcasing and promoting its efforts in fostering inclusion and belonging. The tour began on March 21, 2022, in Los Angeles and has traveled to various cities across the country, including San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, and Chicago. 

The tour also includes virtual panel events to ensure engagement with alumni who cannot attend in person. These events are designed to highlight Brown’s commitment to evolving and expanding its influence in the areas of inclusion and belonging within the Brown community and beyond.

Upcoming Events

Want to learn more? Join us for an upcoming event in a city near you.

Stay Tuned

The Brown Model Tour will have more dates in 2025, including both in-person and virtual events. Check back for upcoming dates and details.

If you have questions or would like to RSVP for an upcoming event, contact yolanda_meikle@brown.edu.

 

About The Brown Model

The Brown Model: Pathways to Inclusion & Belonging tour seeks to acquaint our community with Brown's pathbreaking programs and initiatives today. While the University has garnered national recognition for its endeavors, these accomplishments are the results of years of work that came before.

In 1964, during the Civil Rights era, the University formalized the Brown University-Tougaloo College Partnership (BTP) to enrich both campuses through student, faculty, and administrative exchanges. The partnership emphasized financial assistance for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), bringing national attention to the issue.

In 1986, the University established the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America (CSREA), one of the nation’s earliest academic centers dedicated to research, scholarship, and academic exchanges on issues of race and ethnicity. 

In 2003, President Ruth Simmons appointed a steering committee on Slavery and Justice to explore Brown’s historical relationship to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade and its legacies of inequity and injustice. The committee culminated with its 2006 report, detailing the role of Brown’s founders and benefactors in the slave trade and the benefits the University derived from these activities. Brown released a second edition in 2021 that offered insights into this report’s persistent and evolving impact, both on and beyond Brown’s campus.

One primary recommendation from the original report was to create the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice (CSSJ), which was formally established in 2012.

In 2013, President Christina H. Paxson introduced her strategic plan, Building on Distinction. One of its central themes was “building peaceful, just, and prosperous societies,” with a goal of leveraging Brown’s strength in using a multidisciplinary approach to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Born from that idea was the Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion: An Action Plan for Brown University, commonly referred to as the DIAP. Released in 2016, the DIAP serves as the University’s comprehensive strategic plan to create and sustain a diverse and inclusive community.

Bringing this plan to fruition is the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED), led by Dr. Sylvia Carey-Butler. Together, they are helping Brown to foster an environment of academic excellence, expand Brown’s curriculum to include diversity and inclusion-related topics, create a respectful community that counteracts injustices, collect and share data to measure progress, and recruit students, faculty, and staff from historically underrepresented groups.

About the Speakers

Alyssia CoatesDr. Alyssia Coates is the senior director of development, inclusive philanthropic engagement at Brown. She oversees the Advancement DEI strategic plan and is responsible for the coordination and collaboration across various units within the division and with University campus partners. She is the academic advancement liaison to administrative and faculty leadership for the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED), the Centers for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, and the Ruth J. Simmons Study of Slavery and Justice to advance the University’s campaign priorities.

Coates formerly served for 24 years at the University of Notre Dame in several leadership roles, including the regional director of development, senior leader for the enrollment management team, and professor for the College of First Year of Studies. Coates started a national early outreach recruitment model and established a Notre Dame presence across the United States to identify and recruit seventh through tenth grade students to cultivate a pipeline of highly talented students for selective colleges and universities. Coates’s administrative experience includes success in fundraising, strategic planning, staff development, grant management, organizational leadership, event planning, and stewardship.

Supporting Diversity & Inclusion

Want to support diversity and inclusion at Brown? There are many ways your gift can make a difference. Learn more.


For information about specific giving opportunities, contact:

Alyssia Coates, Ph.D.
Senior Director of Development, Inclusive Philanthropic Engagement
+1 (401) 208-3158
alyssia_coates@brown.edu

Additional Resources