A Panel on Reimagining Campuses to Ensure Inclusive Resiliency After the Pandemic, with U.S. Higher Education Leaders
The second in a series, the EQUITY MATTERS II Leadership Summit presents a lively discussion among university leaders and campus planners working toward enhancing the value of each student’s learning experience and institutional life in higher education, with a focus on social equity.
Convened by Studio Ma and moderated by Architect Magazine editor Wanda Lau, the conversation explores significant challenges built into the very fabric and physical experience of institutions of higher education, as well as methods for engaging students to assess and evaluate those planning and architectural shortcomings. These include historically segregated housing, economic and health barriers, inadequate integration of facilities for underrepresented students, and other physical attributes of access and equity. Many of the challenges are being exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and its long-term changes, as well as shorter-term effects such as physical distancing and outdoor learning.
The panelists seek to answer an urgent question: If higher education is meant to provide an equal platform for all to move forward, how do we recognize and help surmount the unequal access and challenges of underrepresented students with better planning and more inclusive design?