RCPL faculty member Dr. C. Aujean Lee recently gave a presentation titled “Moving from aspiration to action: Reorienting planners’ values towards equity diversity and inclusion” for the American Planning Association (APA) Urban Design and Preservation Division. The APA Urban Design and Preservation Division is a nationwide community of professionals dedicated to supporting educational and networking opportunities for planners, urban designers, preservationists, and allied professionals.
The presentation was part of a continuing education webcast on diversity, equity, and inclusion and included findings from a national survey with more than 3,000 responses on the climate for diversity in planning workplaces. The findings were also published in a report co-authored by Dr. Lee with the same title.
Key findings of Dr. Lee’s work, “showed that although there has been progress incorporating diversity and inclusion values and practices within some organizations and agencies, there are two areas that employers, workplaces, and planning educational institutions still need to address 1) lack of representation, and 2) experiences of bias, harassment, and discrimination based on identity.”
The report recommends, “Moving forward, it is clear that more strident, inclusive, and explicit anti-racist thinking is needed, which requires continual re-commitment to and re-examination of these values.”
Dr. Lee’s work and presentation is an important step in not only calling attention to the biases and lack of representation in the planning field but also presenting steps to fixing these problems.
Read the full report below!
The Gibbs Design in Action Awards (GDAA) program, led by Dr. Wanda Liebermann, has announced its 2026–2027 funded student projects. The initiative supports design and research work that addresses social, cultural, and economic issues in the built environment through collaboration with faculty and community partners.
The OU Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) 2024 collaboration with the Historic Threatt Filling Station has been recognized in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's newly released Byways Report: The Scenic Route to Rural Prosperity – a story-driven publication exploring how road trip culture and place-based tourism can fuel economic growth in rural communities.
The Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Camille Germany, Chief of Staff, has been named the 2026 recipient of the university-wide Jennifer L. Wise Good Stewardship Award.
