Nathaniel Turner

In 2012, Nathaniel A. Turner’s sixteen-year-old-son offered him words that now direct each day of his life. “Dad,” Naeem exclaimed, “you can do more; you still have time!” Nate not only received the instructional and encouraging message, but he took the teenager’s words to heart. Today, the TED Speaker is an author of several books, speaks at corporations and universities across the county, and writes for national and international publications. It would be an understatement to say Nate is doing more with his time. Part of “doing more” includes sharing the very same passionate declaration pronounced by his son and best friend for almost a decade. Nate doesn’t merely believe that we can all do more; he maintains that we must all do more. Join Turner as he shares a backward design process for living your best life so that “you can do more while you still have time.”

This August D’Youville College will host an all-campus development day to foster a broad-based discussion on engagement, retention, empowerment, and student success among Generation Z students. The day is, in part, a response to the bestselling book The Coddling of the American Mind by Lukianoff and Haidt (2018). We will spend the day unpacking portions of this book to address the deficit mindsets on Gen Z. We hope to offer an optimistic and supportive outlook of Gen Z for our faculty and administrators as we prepare the college landscape to serve this population of students best. The day will include a keynote speaker, faculty presentations, roundtable sessions, and a multigenerational panel discussion.

We are facing an existential threat – a series of unimaginable dangers that are rooted in our inability to be more human. We will examine why we are facing a crisis. And for the record, this is not another presentation about diversity, inclusion, and equity rather this is a template for how human beings must work together to put H-U-M-A-N back into humanity.

When it comes to the issues of diversity and inclusion, many Americans appear to both be sick and tired of the discussion and lost and confused about what to do next. The combination of being sick and tired and lost and confused has resulted in the “American Blame Game”. The game where everyone else is to blame for the state of the Union. And like every good American, with the assistance of Charlie Brown & the Peanuts Gang and Mr. Peabody and Sherman, I’m going to join in and play the game too. You want to know who to blame for the incivility of our society, blame adults and parents!

Together we will explore whether diversity training programs have created or are able to create an inclusive environment in which each member of a represented community is valued, respected, and able to fully contribute their talents. Collectively we will investigate whether diversity training programs are changing attitudes of prejudice and bias, or whether diversity training programs are the catalyst for increased institutional hostility and escalating levels of social incivility. SPOILER ALERT: It’s time we rethink and redesign the way we imagine, prepare, engage, and facilitate diversity and inclusion EVERYWHERE.

I’m going to get you to check your pulse to find out bother literally and figuratively whether you are alive or dead. What will be written about you in your obituary? How will your life be described in your eulogy? What words will be engraved on your tomb/cemetery marker? Are you awake and dreaming or are you just like so many others who are already dead – zombies sleepwalking through this your only life?

You attend college for four years preparing for the “real world.” Semester after semester, quarter after quarter, you're tested to make sure you have met the academic requirements of your major. During those four years, rarely are classes offered about the aspect of the “real world” – the one thing that you need to know and master for the rest of your life – your finances.
Although a lack of financial literacy has historically tormented minority graduates far more than other graduates, colleges and universities seldom see fit to make improving the financial acumen of any of its student's much less minority students a priority. Such oversight is criminal! And it’s time for us to correct this wrong.
“Your Money Matters” attendees will be introduced to some financial tools, techniques, and strategies that may improve your financial understanding and long-term economic standing. This workshop is for any student who doesn't want to be another statistical casualty.