Meet Our Keynote Speakers
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Our two keynote speakers for A Legacy of Her: Embracing WOC and Its Allies* is a dynamic leader who has shattered barriers and uplifted communities. With a powerful story of resilience and success, they will inspire attendees to embrace their identities, challenge limits, and build their own lasting legacies.
Dr. Danita M. Brown Young
The Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Danita M. Brown Young is currently the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at theUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Before moving to Champaign, she served as Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Prior to that position, she worked in student affairs at Purdue University, including serving as the youngest and first African American (and first African American woman) Dean of Students at Purdue. Dr. Brown Young holds a B.A. in sociology from Kent State University, an M.A. in community counseling from Loyola University Chicago, and earned her Ph.D. in higher education administration from Ohio University.
Dr. Brown Young is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Links, Incorporated, NASPA; and ACPA.
She has served as a member of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Illinois Regional Board; Regional Director for NASPA IV-East from 2019-2021; and a Girl Scout Troop Leader. She was awarded the NASPA Pillar of the Profession award in 2021. She served as the NASPA Board Chair from 2022-2023; and is currently serving on the NASPA FirstGen Forward Board of Directors.
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Dr. Brown Young is married to John Allen Young II and has a daughter named Sarah.
With over 25 years of experience in student affairs in higher education, Dr. Brown Young is an accomplished ambassador for students, and understands the critical role student affairs must play in successfully meeting the land-grant promises of educational access and opportunity to help create a more socially just society.
Joy Das, M.P.A.
Assistant Director
 
Illinois Leadership Center
 at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Joy joined the Illinois Leadership Center (ILC) as an Assistant Director in July 2022 where she currently coordinates ILC workshop requests and the Weekly Workshop series. Additionally, Joy supervises the Graf Interns. Prior to joining the University of Illinois, Joy served as the Program Manager for Student Leadership within the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement at Cornell University, where she managed the leadership certificate, community engagement grant mechanism, workshop series, and student ambassador program. Outside of the ILC, Joy enjoys road trips across the United States, visiting family and friends, and hanging out with her cat.
Meet Our Panelist
Our panelists for A Legacy of Her: Embracing WOC and Its Allies are trailblazing women of color who have broken barriers and inspired change. They bring diverse perspectives from various fields, sharing powerful stories, insights, and strategies for success. Through engaging discussions, they will empower attendees to embrace their journeys, challenge limitations, and build lasting legacies.
Venetria K. Patton
Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
Venetria K. Patton is Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. She is responsible for providing leadership for the mission, vision, and values of the college.
Patton earned her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of La Verne and her master’s and PhD in English from the University of California-Riverside.
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In 1996, Patton joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an assistant professor of English and African American studies. In 1998, she was named coordinator of the African American & African Studies Program, and in 2003 she won the Annis Chaiken Sorensen Distinguished Teaching Award in the Arts and Humanities and the College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award.
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In 2003, Patton joined Purdue University as director of the African American Studies & Research Center. She continued her duties as professor, receiving the Kenneth T. Kofmehl Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award. She served as director of the African American Studies & Research Center until 2015, when she was named Provost Fellow on Diversity & Inclusion. In 2016, she was named head of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Purdue. She served in that role until 2021, when she came to the University of Illinois.
Patton is the author of The Grasp That Reaches Beyond the Grave: the Ancestral Call in Black Women’s Texts” and Women in Chains: The Legacy of Slavery in Black Women’s Fiction. She is co-editor of Double-Take: A Revisionist Harlem Renaissance Anthology and editor of Background Readings for Teachers of American Literature.
Dr.Eleanor Seaton
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Professor in the Psychology department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Eleanor K. Seaton is a Professor in the Psychology department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Seaton is a developmental psychologist, and an international expert on racism-related experiences, racial identity, and mental health among Black youth. Dr. Seaton’s research documents the impact of racism on Black adolescents’ mental health using prospective cohort studies, ecological momentary assessment techniques, qualitative interviews, and analyses of nationally representative data sets. Dr. Seaton has increasingly focused on middle childhood and early adolescence in order to understand the intersection of pubertal development, race-ethnicity, and gender among Black youth. Dr. Seaton is a former co-host of a television segment, titled Break it Down on AZ PBS where she discussed how racism impacts various facets of society. Dr. Seaton tends to journal, travel, bake desserts, shop, read, watch movies on Turner Classic Movies, and dance to Chicago style house music when relaxing.
Performance by :
Wrapsody Dance Co.
Created to repent those who are wrapped in theirs passions. Fun Fact: Wrapsody performed at the 34th annual conference also!