The GriffinHarte Foundation

Cindy L. Griffin is a professor emeritus in the department of Communication Studies and a member of the Women’s Studies affiliate faculty at Colorado State University. Throughout her academic career, she has focused on questions of who can or is speaking, why those individuals can and do speak, whose voices and ideas have been ignored or neglected, and why those voices and ideas are ignored or silenced. Her communication scholarship is centered in feminist theories and practices, a commitment to civility, and a desire for collaboration and respectful exchanges. Because finding funding, as well as productive outlets, for ideas and questions related to gender, identity, feminism, civility and social justice is a challenge, she and her husband decided to establish the GriffinHarte Foundation in order to provide support and resources for people interested in similar questions, research projects, and teaching efforts.

Michael J. Harte is the owner of Coyote Camp Fireline Chow, a small business providing ready-to-eat meals to firefighters across the nation. He has been involved in the fire service for 40 years and is committed to serving his local community in volunteer efforts.

Bruce Dorries, Associate Professor of Communication at Mary Baldwin College, serves as faculty-in-residence at the Spencer Center for Civic and Global Engagement. In addition to teaching public speaking and media courses, he also teaches Civic Leadership and Social Change with Dr. Steven Grande. His monthly column about environmental issues appears in Staunton, Virginia’s News Leader, and he has helped to found several nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations. He earned his BA in Journalism and History at Baylor University, an MA from The University of Corpus Christi State University (now Texas A&M at Corpus Christi), and a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Missouri.

Derek R. Sweet is an associate professor of Communication Studies at Luther College. Derek’s academic work focuses on how people, as public advocates, arbiters, and accomplishers, come together to negotiate such significant matters as cultural identity, political policy, and social truths (e.g. equality, justice, appropriateness). Specifically, his work explores the way individuals and groups create, reinforce, and challenge the attitudes, beliefs, and values that form the foundation of an ethical community.

Elizabeth R. Earle is an assistant professor of rhetoric in the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, Sacramento. She holds degrees in both rhetoric and Hispanic studies, and her interdisciplinary research combines these interests, looking at the intersections of political rhetoric, public intellectuals, and media in Latin America, Spain, and the United States. More specifically, she examines how intellectuals use rhetoric to build community in times of polarization and crisis. Pedagogically, she works to develop courses that highlight excluded voices in the field of rhetoric.

Jan Barela-Smith is a third generation Fort Collins’s native and the first in her family to graduate from a university. She is an alumna of Colorado State University and received her degree in Speech Communication. Jan is currently a graduate student in the Organizational Performance and Change Program at Colorado State. She also works for the Educational Opportunity Center (TRIO), a program that assists low-income first -generation college students in pursuing a post secondary education. Her passion is helping others in their quest in higher education. She explains: “Having the opportunity to receive a college education is life changing and changes one’s destiny for generations to come.”

Jana Webster-Wheeler is a public middle-school music teacher and professional musician in Fort Collins, Colorado. She holds a BME from Colorado State University and her MME from the University of Northern Colorado. Jana has been a part of the Pipeline program (which supports the education of diverse teachers) in Poudre School District and has participated in diversity seminars and panels for the Colorado Education Association. Her work, while grounded in students’ music education, also focuses on allowing students to express their individuality through their musical expression, repertoire, stylistic approaches, and independent musical ventures. Jana also strives to allow for conversations about diversity in a safe and open venue. In the musical setting, she discusses the range of historical, cultural, social, and ethnic backgrounds from which performance literature is selected and then performed. Through these conversations, it is Jana’s hope to broaden musical tastes and acceptance of varied backgrounds to create a shared vision for the students.

Jordan Soliz is a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and co-facilitator of the Civic Leaders track in the Honors College at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Jordan’s teaching and research focuses on communication, identity, and difference with a specific interest on identity in personal relationships (e.g., multiethnic-racial families, interfaith relationships), socialization of biases and worldviews, and intergroup dialogue in academic and community settings. He is the past-Chair of the Intergroup Communication Interest Group of the International Communication Association.

Karma R. Chávez is assistant professor of Communication Arts and an affiliate faculty in Chican@ and Latin@ Studies at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Chávez’ research emphasizes coalition and alliance building, social movement, and the rhetorical practice of marginalized groups using queer feminist of color theories. Most specifically, Chávez’ current research examines discourses of queer migration and coalition politics, and along with Eithne Luibhéid, she is the co-founder of the Queer Migration Research Network. Chávez also works with her local community on immigration and LGBTQ issues as a member of the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice Immigrant Rights Working Group, and a co-founder of the “Queers and the Public” collective, which hosts monthly potlucks in Madison in order to facilitate discussions on topics of interest to the broader queer community.

Manuel A. Rodríguez-Escobar is a Master of Arts graduate in Communication Studies from Colorado State University. His educational training is based in rhetorical criticism, cultural studies, and media theory. Specifically, his work explores discourses surrounding the topic of immigration in America. Rodríguez-Escobar’s research employs theories of media framing to document the frames and metaphors used to describe immigrants in a variety of popular media. Currently, he serves as the convention services supervisor at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Denver, Colorado.

Margret McCue-Enser is an associate professor of Communication Studies in the Women’s College at Saint Catherine University. Dr. McCue-Enser writes both scholarly and public work, as well as teaches a seminar, on the ways in which contemporary representations of settler society and Dakota genocide perpetuate the continued displacement of Dakota from Minnesota. Previous work examines Ada Deer (Menominee) and her testimony as part of overturning termination as a federal Indian policy as well as Deer’s confirmation as the first American Indian female to head the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Michelle A. Holling is a Professor in the Department of Communication and Co-Coordinator of the Ethnic Studies Program at California State University San Marcos. Her scholarly interests focus on matters of voice/voz, identity, agency, and community with a specialization on Chican@-Latin@ communities. From critical-cultural and feminist perspectives, she explores such issues by examining how individuals or groups proceed in rhetorically challenging reigning ideologies, systems or representations that contribute to devaluing, marginalizing or subjugating persons based on race, ethnicity, gender and/or class. She serves (or has served) as an officer for the Western States Communication Association, the Organization for Research on Women and Communication, and the National Communication Association.

Sabrina Slagowski-Tipton graduated from Colorado State University in 2016 with an MA in Communication Studies and a Deliberative Practices Specialization. She currently works as the Managing Director at CSU’s Center for Public Deliberation, which is an organization devoted to improving local democracy and having tough conversations to solve wide-ranging community problems together.  She is a Fort Collins, Colorado transplant, but has lived there for 12 years, so she likes to pretend she’s a Native. Sabrina works on numerous projects through the Center for Public Deliberation with many community partners in Northern Colorado and is passionate about bridging divides.

Shanel Hughes is a First Generation graduate of Colorado State University and received her degree in Communication Studies. She is a Colorado Native. She is an active participant in the Women’s Diversity and Leadership Network as well as the Black/African American Network at her current job. She is part of the Diversity Council at Voodoo Comedy Playhouse, a committee dedicated to making improv a better space for all players. Her passion is to assist in making the lives of little humans a little easier.

Shanae Sepulveda graduated from Colorado State University with a major in Communication Studies and a minor in Zoology in 2013 and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Organizational Management with a specialization in Organizational Leadership. As a believer in higher education, she works as an enrollment advisor for Ashford University in downtown Denver. She is a proud member of the culture club which encourages coworkers to make an impact in the community by participating in various volunteer opportunities.  She has a lot of faith in people and practices/promotes civil conversation in order to reach overall common goals.