Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Alumna

Chelsea Verrette ’24 MS (Strategic Communication) was awarded the Top DEI Submission at the 2024 Schieffer College Research and Creative Festival for her thesis, “Advertising to the spectrum: Examining the ethical implications of advertising to individuals in the autism spectrum community.” Chelsea is pursuing her Ph.D. at TCU’s College of Education.

Students

What does it mean to have “Expectations, not Limitations?” According to our students, it means Austin Underwood.

Created by students in the Documentary Production course and presented by Film, Television and Digital Media, “Underdawgs” follows the story of local Down syndrome advocate Austin Underwood. Underwood is an adult living with Down syndrome and a small business owner of Austin’s Underdawgs food truck.  Together with his mother, Jan, they empower those with intellectual differences to achieve independent living and career opportunities through their non-profit organization, The Each and Everyone Foundation.

Continue reading “Student Documentary Explores Expectations, Not Limitations.”

Faculty

Associate Professor Ashley English, Professor Julie O’Neil and retired professor Jacque Lambiase studied the lack of connection between city officials and the Black community in the wake of the shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson by a Fort Worth police officer in 2019.

Over the summer of 2020, they spoke over Zoom with 25 Fort Worth residents about their experiences in the city in the wake of her death.

“We don’t see a lot of research that looks in a systematic fashion at the experiences of Black stakeholders,” English said.

Their research looked for ways to improve communication among civic leaders, the police and marginalized residents. One of the main themes they found was listening.

Learn more about the research that sparked these listening sessions in Learning to Listen, in the Spring 2023 edition of TCU Magazine.

Faculty

Dr. Catherine Coleman, Strategic Communication chair and professor, studied the link between marketing campaigns and inequalities that women, as both producers and consumers, experience in economic markets. Additionally, she investigates such issues as how refugees navigate commercial settings that bombard them with advertising and promotions that assume “normal” consumer well-being.