When roads turned icy and traveling became dangerous on Friday, most scheduled events, from classes to meetings, were cancelled. But the Minority Health Conference came up with a quick alternative.
Despite the weather-related travel restrictions, the 36th annual Minority Health Conference — which was cancelled Friday due to weather conditions — hosted an online webcast of the keynote speech and plans to reschedule many of the planned talks.
The annual conference aims to draw attention to the health issues of minority populations.
The keynote lecturer was William Darity Jr., a professor of public policy, African and African American studies and economics at Duke University. In the webcast, he discussed the social and structural factors that affect the inequalities in education, employment and health.
Other speaking events and breakout sessions were cancelled due to the snow. The co-chairwomen plan to hold make-up session, but have not settled on an official make-up date yet.
The conference is the largest and longest running student-led conference in the nation. This year the planning committee consisted of more than 60 people.
Deshira Wallace, the planning coordinator, said planning began last summer.
The conference has a different theme every year. This year, the theme was "Reaching for the American Dream: Economic Mobility and Minority Health."
Elena Rivera said she and May Chen, the co-chairwomen, chose this theme because it is both current and relevant.
