Junia Howell gives 2023 Bill Gray lecture

On June 9, 2023, Junia Howell visited PSU from the University of Illinois to give her talk “Delegitimizing and Dismantling Systems of Oppression: How Empirical Research Can Uncover and Collective Action Can Transform Housing Inequities.” She spoke about her strategy of using empirical research to highlight inequity, and she offered a vision for a new housing finance system that is equitable for all. Her revolutionary and thought-provoking vision inspired many in the room.

Dr. Howell is an urban sociologist, race scholar and public advocate who works to identify and dismantle the specific policies, processes and practices that uphold White supremacy. Her nonprofit, eruka, aims to cultivate equity across people and places by providing alternative housing and finance services based on her research.

The annual Bill Gray Speaker Series is generously sponsored by Dr. Bill Gray, who obtained his PhD here in 1984 and later became the first Chancellor of Washington State. Speakers are nominated by TSUSP faculty every year, with a concerted effort made to invite scholars from underrepresented groups who do inspiring work.