CEP–Council for Racial Equity, Praxis, and Presence Newsletter

Welcome from the Chair

Hello everyone— 

As we get ready to see many of you at the ASHE Annual Conference in November, I am excited to share updates about what is happening within CEP.

This newsletter outlines information about our pre-conference (which we hope you will consider participating in), how you can contribute to the next generation of higher education leaders through a new travel scholarship fund, and notes about incoming leaders of the association (including CEP’s new Chair-Elect and our new graduate student representative). A special shout-out to our CEP Past President, Dr. Natasha Croom, who was elected the 2028 ASHE President. You have invested in my career and those of so many. I cannot wait to see what you do in the role!

As always, if there is anything that CEP can do for you, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at antonio.duran@asu.edu. Shout to our Secretary, Dr. Sarah Hurtado, for getting this newsletter together!

Best,
Antonio Duran, PhD
Chair, CEP - Council for Racial Equity, Praxis, and Presence
Associate Professor, Arizona State University

CEP Pre-Conference 2026: (Re)membering a Place Called Home: Ontoepistemic Commitments Toward Liberation

The CEP Pre-Conference Forum invites participants to explore this year’s theme, "(Re)membering a Place Called Home: Ontoepistemic Commitments Towards Liberation." We encourage all attendees to register first for the Virtual Pre-Conference Colloquium on October 23, a space for reflection, relationship-building, and collective preparation. Participants are also encouraged to enhance their experience by registering for the In-Person Pre-Conference Forum on November 3 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where conversations will be grounded in place, community, and liberation. Register today and join us in building meaningful connections and transformative learning experiences.

CEP Pre-Conference Travel Scholarship Fund: Consider Donating!

CEP invites you to invest in the next generation of higher education leaders by contributing to our CEP Pre-Conference Travel Scholarship Endowment. This fund will help support travel to the CEP Pre-Conference for graduate students and early career scholars. This is an important way to give back to the CEP community and ensure emerging scholars have access to mentorship and professional socialization.  Please consider supporting this fund with a donation. 

More information can be found here: https://www.ashe.ws/store/cep-scholarship

CEP Business Meeting

All CEP members are invited to attend the CEP Business Meeting on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026 from 5:15 to 7:00pm (Puerto Rico Convention Center, 2nd Floor, 208ABC) in-person in San Juan. During this meeting we will share important updates about CEP and celebrate our award winners. We hope you can join us!

Election Results

Congratulations to our newly elected CEP Leaders! Dr. Cameron C. Beatty (Associate Professor, Florida State University) will be our next CEP Chair. Cameron will first serve as Chair Elect (2027), then as Chair (2028-2029), and then as Past Chair (2030). Jolssen Rodriguez (University of Georgia) will serve as our new Graduate Student Representative.

Thank you to all who engaged in the voting process. We are very excited to see how Cameron and Jolssen continue to transform CEP.

Congratulations Dr. Natasha N. Croom!

We wanted to be sure to give a shoutout to our current CEP Past Chair, Dr. Natasha N. Croom (Clemson University) on her recent election to the ASHE Board of Directors! Natasha was elected to be the 2028 ASHE President! Soon she will begin her term as President Elect (2027), then her term as President (2028), followed by her term as Immediate Past President (2029). Natasha has been extremely influential to CEP, and we look forward to seeing her continue to impact ASHE in her roles.

Reminder about CEP Bylaw Updates

Over the past few years, CEP, along with other ASHE entities, has been continuing to reflect on crucial aspects of our mission, vision, and practice. CEP has long been doing the work of advancing racial justice and other intersecting forms of equity within the association. And yet, the imperatives to do this work, and the approaches we take, have evolved. For this reason, we chose to revisit our bylaws.

In the past couple of months, CEP membership voted to approve the update bylaws, which included:

At the most recent ASHE Board Meeting, these changes were approved and became effective April 1, 2026.

This means we are officially the Council for Racial Equity, Praxis, and Presence, but still CEP for short!

You can find the updated bylaws here: https://www.ashe.ws/cep