Losing Ground Discussion Occurs at Colorado State University Feb. 25

Colorado State University’s Office of the Provost and the Vice President for Diversity are joining up with Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting System and I-News to host “Losing Ground,” a community discussion about recent findings that black and Latino residents are falling further behind their white counterparts.

Colorado State Sen. John Kefalas; longtime Colorado journalist Kevin Vaughan; I-News Editorial Director Burt Hubbard; Director of El Museo de Las Tres Colonias Betty Aragon-Mitotes; and CSU’s Director of Black/African American Cultural Center Bridgette Johnson will serve as panelists for the discussion. Eric Aoki, a professor in CSU’s Department of Communication Studies, will moderate the event.

The discussion begins at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 in the Lory Student Center East Ballroom.

Kefalas, a former state representative elected to the senate in November, has long sought to help middle-class and lower-income Coloradans by passing bills to help create jobs, reduce taxes for working people and small businesses, promote renewable energy and efficiency, advance education and lower costs while increasing value in Colorado’s health care system

Vaughan, currently a reporter for Rocky Mountain PBS, has worked for nearly two decades as a reporter for several of Colorado’s newspapers, including The Denver Post, Fort Collins Coloradoan and The Fort Morgan Times.

Hubbard, known for his data analysis skills, has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist twice.

Aragon is a local business owner whose family lived in Fort Collins since 1962. In the 1990s, Aragon worked to support the Hispanic community by fighting against rerouting heavy truck traffic through a Hispanic neighborhood; working to attract affordable shopping to the north end of town – ultimately leading to the Walmart Super Store, and working with the police to eradicate gangs and drugs in the Buckingham neighborhood. She also has served as the president of the Buckingham, Andersonville and Alta Vista neighborhoods and has received numerous awards for her work.

Johnson joined CSU in 2006 and has more than 18 years of experience in higher education. She has developed many successful programs, taught first-year seminar courses and serves on several community boards and organizations.

Aoki teaches courses in cultural diversity and interpersonal, co-cultural and intercultural communication at CSU. His research intersects the areas of identity, voice, and cultural presentations in media and public spaces.

To learn more about “Losing Ground,” visit www.inewsnetwork.org/losingground.

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