Augsburg鈥檚 annual campus professional development conference, Days in May, typically attracts strong participation from faculty and staff. But the crowd that filled Hoversten Chapel on May 15 was larger than usual. Faculty, staff, alumni, family, and students packed the house to celebrate and remember the legacy of Associate Professor of Education Jennifer Diaz, who passed away in 2024.聽
Sponsored by the Education Department, the Office of the President, and the Office of Faculty Development, the keynote speaker for the Professor Jennifer Diaz Memorial Lecture was Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, professor emerita and former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor of Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin鈥揗adison. Ladson-Billings is an influential scholar of culturally relevant pedagogy and critical race theory in education, a former president of the American Educational Research Association, and the author of critically acclaimed books, including 鈥淭he Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children鈥� and 鈥淐rossing Over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms.鈥澛�
Diaz studied with Ladson-Billings during graduate school at UW鈥揗adison. After completing her Ph.D., Diaz joined Augsburg in 2015, where her scholarly work focused on interrupting 鈥渄eficit narratives鈥� in mathematics education. 鈥淢ath was her vehicle, but not her purpose,鈥� said Ladson-Billings, reflecting on Diaz鈥檚 work to identify and challenge inequitable systems through attention to context, cultures, and teacher effectiveness. 鈥淛ennie Diaz believed in her students.鈥澛�
Diaz shared her personal vocation story in her own words in November 2023 as part of the 鈥淯ncovering Vocation鈥� series at Augsburg. She spoke about being encouraged by a former teacher to give her gifts freely to the world, expecting nothing in return.聽
鈥淚n any conversation with Jennie, you knew you mattered,鈥� said Professor Audrey Lensmire. 鈥淪he believed that our work was a collective effort toward equity.鈥澛犅�