TEDxWVU announces speakers for March event: ‘Say it Loud’

Dr. Ali Rezai, executive chair and vice president of neuroscience, as well as associate dean and John D. Rockefeller IV tenured professor in neuroscience at the WVU School of Medicine, speaks at the 2019 TEDxWVU event held at the WVU Creative Arts Center.(WVU Photo/Hunter Tankersly)

West Virginia University’sTEDxWVUevent “Say it Loud” March 28 in theCreative Arts CenterGladys Davis Theaterwill feature five dynamic speakers. Raimah Hossain, Nicole Russell, Matthew Cordle, Kassie Colón andChristina Fattorewill speak on a variety of topics affecting WVU students and the University community.

By Andrés Warren
Public Relations and Marketing Chair, TEDxWVU

“Say it Loud,” the theme of the third annual TEDxWVU event, strives to bring individuals together to focus on our similarities while we celebrate our differences.

“We want to inspire others to speak their truths, lift voices that have been silenced, and to celebrate individuals for who they are, not who we want them to be,” said Allie Satterfield, TEDxWVU Chair.

Hossain is a WVU sophomore from Morgantown majoring in biomedical engineering. She will share her story as a first generation American in the 21st century and her struggle to find her cultural and social identity.

Russell is the author of “Everything a Band-Aid Can’t Fix,” a bestselling self-help book and guide for teens and young adults, and the co-founder and executive director of the Precious Dreams Foundation. Her talk will focus on the importance of words while highlighting the impact of communication on mental health.

Cordle is the founder of Save Your Victim, a social movement to prevent drunken driving and make sure everyone gets home safe. Cordle will share his personal experience with the consequences of life-shattering decisions and emphasize the importance of “handling your issues before they handle you.”

Colón is the founder of Project La Resolana, an initiative that distributes culturally representative literature to students in K-12. Colón will discuss the importance of cultivating spaces for social change in education by empowering students to explore mediums by which they can challenge the status quo.

Fattore, a WVU associate professor of political science, became a bit of a social celebrity when her viral tweet on authenticity was featured on Good Morning America, ABC News, Parents magazine, as well as other popular online sites. She will discuss the honesty and perseverance it takes to persist in the face of adversity rather than continuing to maintain the perfect façade whether via social media or in real life.

For the third consecutive year, Eric Minor, WVU Reed College of MediaDirector of Student Careers and Opportunities, and April Kaull,Director of News for University Relationsat WVU, will serve as co-hosts for the event.

Tickets for the TEDxWVU “Say it Loud” event will go on sale Friday (Feb. 28) at 10 a.m. at the Mountainlair and Creative Arts Center box offices and at ticketmaster.com.General admission tickets are $24 for the general public and $16 for WVU students with a valid WVU Student ID (limit one discounted ticket per valid ID).

TEDx is a program of locally organized events that bring the community together to share a TED-like experience. Some of the best talks from TEDx events have gone on to be featured on TED.com and garnered millions of views from audiences across the globe. TEDxWVU was founded in 2017 by WVU students to create a space for ideas worth sharing. The organization has nearly 40 members who work throughout the academic year to produce a TEDx event for the University and surrounding Morgantown community.

Read more about TEDxWVU, on Twitter (@TEDxWVU, #SayitLoud), Instagram (@tedxwvu) or Facebook (TEDxWVU).

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, often in the form of short talks delivered by leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED conferences, including our annual gathering in Vancouver, as well as TEDWomen, intimate TED Salons and thousands of independently organized TEDx events around the world. Videos of these talks are made available, free, on TED.com and other platforms. Audio versions of the talks from TED2019 are published to TED's podcast TED Talks Daily, available on all podcast platforms.

TED's open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; TEDx, which licenses thousands of individuals and groups to host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities; The Audacious Project, which surfaces and funds critical ideas that have the potential to impact millions of lives; TED Translate, which crowdsources the subtitling of TED Talks so that big ideas can spread across languages and borders; and the educational initiative TED-Ed. TED also has a growing library of original podcasts, including The TED Interview with Chris Anderson, WorkLife with Adam Grant, TED en Español and Sincerely, X.

Follow TED on Twitter, on Facebook on Instagramand on LinkedIn.

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