The university-wide task force convened by the Office of the Provost, in coordination with the Office of Chancellor, to assess the impact of new Tennessee laws banning gender-affirming care for minors and public adult cabaret shows will hold a series of listening sessions in April and May.
All Vanderbilt faculty, staff, and students are invited to participate in the listening sessions. They are scheduled as follows:
Tuesday, April 25, at 5 p.m. – Listening session for undergraduate students
Vice Provost and Dean of Students G.L. Black will facilitate the discussion. Please email deanofstudents@vanderbilt.edu to register and receive additional details.
Tuesday, April 25, at 6 p.m. – Listening session for graduate/professional students and postdocs
Vice Provost and Dean of Students G.L. Black will facilitate the discussion. Please email deanofstudents@vanderbilt.edu to register and receive additional details.
Friday, April 28, at 1 p.m. – Listening session for faculty
This session will be on Zoom. Click here for registration information. Kitt Carpenter, E. Bronson Ingram Professor and University Distinguished Professor of Economics and of Health Policy and founder and director of Vanderbilt’s LGBTQ+ Policy Lab, will facilitate the discussion.
Monday, May 15, at 1 p.m. – Listening session for staff
This session will be on Zoom. Click here for registration information. Carpenter will facilitate this virtual discussion.
The university began convening the task force in March. Carpenter, who also holds appointments in the Law School; Leadership Policy and Organizations; Medicine, Health and Society; and Gender and Sexuality Studies, is chairing the task force. Under his leadership, the task force will assess the practical implications of the state’s decision to ban gender-affirming care for people younger than 18 and restrict public adult cabaret shows. Those implications include, but are not limited to, access to clinical care, mental and/or behavioral health care, training/instruction, research and university health benefits-as well as the moral implications, such as impact to freedoms, rights, well-being and personal beliefs.
Others serving on the task force include:
- G.L. Black, vice provost for student affairs and dean of students
- Laura Mariko Cheifetz, assistant dean of admissions, vocation and stewardship, Vanderbilt Divinity School
- Jessica Clarke, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Law and co-director of the George Barrett Social Justice Program
- Pam Jones, associate vice chancellor for health and wellness
- Luis Leyva, assistant professor of mathematics education and faculty affiliate in the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies
- Stephanie Mahnke, director of the K.C. Potter Center and Office of LGBTQI Life
- Kevin Niswender, associate professor of medicine and executive medical director of VIVID Health
- Ciera V. Scott, associate director for community engagement, University Counseling Center
- Michelle Tellock, deputy general counsel, Office of the General Counsel
- Catherine A. Wood, executive director, Total Rewards, Human Resources
- Kosha Tucker, associate vice chancellor and chief of staff, Office of the Provost (ex officio)