President Hinton urged students, faculty, staff, and alumnae/i to “choose to see the bared humanity of one another and choose not to look away from the discomfort, but rather to lean into it” during the third annual Leading Equity, Diversity, and Justice (Leading EDJ) Conference, held in February.

This year’s conference welcomed over 370 participants for roughly 30 sessions united around the theme of Barriers and Bridges to Access. “The theme reflects the holistic need to evaluate our policies, practices, programs, and this place,” Hinton explained. “We’re asking ourselves: How do we experience Hollins? How do we limit one another’s experience in this place? And most importantly, how can we turn barriers into bridges?”

Lauren Ridloff, who portrayed the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first deaf superhero in the 2021 film Eternals, delivered the event’s keynote address. A former Miss Deaf America, Ridloff was the lead in the Broadway revival of Children of a Lesser God and appeared in the AMC series The Walking Dead. She is now starring in and executive producing a new series on Starz.

“I finally have a seat at that table in Hollywood where the important decisions are being made,’ she said. “I am so happy to open more doors for deaf talent.”