California State University, East Bay will kick off its annual Week of Inclusive Excellence at 9 a.m. on Monday in the University Union Multipurpose Room with President Leroy Morishita set to give the opening remarks.

The events are scheduled for Feb. 23 through Feb. 27 with multiple activities scheduled each day. According to the University’s website the week of events are, “a means to foster academic excellence and student creativity in a vibrant community environment,” and are primarily geared toward faculty, staff, and students.

“Diversity is essential to our university’s academic excellence, institutional distinction and regional influence,” CSUEB President Morishita said. “As an educational community, we are dedicated to eliminating barriers to success that arise from race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, culture, religion, linguistic diversity, ability, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, geographical region, personality, learning styles, life experiences or other human characteristics.”

Markese Bryant, a native of Oakland and Vallejo and co-founder of Fight For Light, will speak from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Monday in the University Union Multipurpose Room. Bryant’s company strives to, “transform Historically Black Colleges and Universities into hubs for environmental sustainability and social innovation.”

On Tuesday there are several discussions scheduled in addition to a workshop led by Ysaye Barnwell from 6 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. in room 1055 of the Music Building. Barnwell will lead, “A participatory singing journey through African American history.”

Wednesday offers a film screening of the movie “First Generation” which documents the lives of four high school students from different backgrounds that are attempting to become the first member of their families to attend a college or university.

The screening is from 10 a.m. to noon in Multipurpose Room B in the University Union on campus.

Also on Wednesday the CSUEB Distinguished Writers Series next installment will feature author Kathryn Ma who will read excerpts from her first novel, “The Year She Left Us,” which was an Editor’s Choice selection by The New York Times. The reading will be from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Biella Room in the library.
Another author, Jenny Finney Boylan, will be on campus Thursday to discuss her latest book “She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders” from 5:45 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the University Theater.

Boylan who identifies as transgender also serves as the national co-chair of the board of directors for Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation better known as GLAAD.

The final event of the week will be on Feb. 27 from 12:15 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the University Union Multipurpose Room B. Associate Professor of Science Education at Stanford University Bryan Brown will lead, “Teaching the Talk: Teaching and Learning to Provide STEM Access to All Students.”

According to the CSUEB website Brown, “offers a theoretical and empirical review of his research on Discursive Identity and Conceptual Continuity through a mixture of sociolinguistics and experimental research.”