Award: Grand Gold

Institution: University of Maryland Baltimore County

Title of Entry: UMBC's first virtual conference: "“The Evolving World of Inclusive Language”

About this Entry: UMBC hosted “The Evolving World of Inclusive Language” on June 10, 2020, at a moment of intense focus on anti-racism and inclusion in the world The purpose of this one day conference was to initiate a conversation around strategies and best practices for inclusive language in university communications with the goal to help participants create or expand their inclusive language style guides
to engage broad audiences through messages, stories, social media, and websites.

The event was organized by Catalina Sofia Dansberger Duque of UMBC’s Office of Institutional Advancement in partnership with Montgomery College and supported by the CASE District II Venture Capital Fund. The conference was initially planned for an in-person event for 50 higher education communications professionals across the mid-Atlantic. Following COVID-19, the event moved online.

We received registrations from the day the invitations were sent out until the day of the event. In about a month's time registrations were received from across the United States, Canada, Europe, India, and South America. By the day of the online event, nearly 800 people from across the U.S. and around the world had registered. Six topics were covered: inclusive language during COVID-19 and violence against the Black community; inclusive language for students and staff; gender-inclusive language and the LGBTQ community; disability, neurodiversity, and practicing inclusion; equity dialogues; and creating a style guide. These sessions engaged communication professionals in understanding the many ways in which inclusive language can be used in campus communications to reflect their commitment to diversity and inclusion.