Mark Nerenhausen, professor of practice and founding director of Syracuse University’s Janklow Arts Leadership Program will be among the guest speakers at Thursday’s Diversity in the Arts: A Call to Action in ROC symposium. The one-day symposium, which will be held at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), will feature a variety of experts that will discuss why diversity is important in their respective fields. The symposium will also explore the lack of diversity’s impact on sustainability and relevance as well as make the connection between declining participation, demographical shifts, and diversity in the arts.

“It’s an honor to be invited to speak alongside such distinguished arts leaders,” says Nerenhausen, who helped launch the Janklow Program in 2012. “The arts landscape has shifted dramatically over the years. This symposium will serve as the perfect opportunity to discuss how we in the arts must adjust our thinking and approach in order to attract and retain the best and brightest to the art world.”

Other speakers include Essie Calhoun-McDavid, retired chief diversity officer at Eastman Kodak Company and Kevin McDonald, associate provost and vice president of diversity and inclusion at Rochester Institute of Technology. Dr. Aaron Dworkin, founder and president at Sphinx Organization and President Barak Obama’s first appointee to the National Council of the Arts will deliver the keynote address, in which he’ll discuss a national strategy for diversifying the arts.

The event is produced by 21^st Century Arts (a Janklow Program partner) in collaboration with PeaceArt International, and RIT. The symposium will run from 9:00 a.m. to 300 p.m. and be held in RIT’s Ingle Auditorium. It is free and open to the public, however registration is required. To register, please visit http://www.21stcentruyarts.net/#projects?c1bgq.

Housed in The College’s Department of Art and Music Histories, the Janklow Program, which is named for Morton L. Janklow ’50, one of the country’s most powerful literary agents and arts advocates, offers a 15-month, 39-credit hour master’s program that trains leaders of nonprofit and for-profit organizations in the creative and performing arts.  More recently, the Janklow Program began offering an Arts Leadership Advanced Certificate which is a 15-credit-hour program for recent college graduates and experienced practitioners that provides an additional foundation and training in management, and may be used in conjunction with other master’s programs on campus.