Symposium on Inclusive Excellence
The annual Symposium on Inclusive Excellence encourages students and staff to learn, grow, and commit as a campus to comprehensive, ongoing engagement with our diverse community. An entire day in February is reserved for a featured keynote speaker or expert panelists and educational sessions that inspire open dialogue.
More About Our Panelists
Co-chair of Business & Economics, Assistant Professor of Economics
Dr. Bhattacharjee (or Dr. B) joined Lebanon Valley College after previously teaching at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, and the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire. Originally from Kolkata, India, she moved to the United States approximately ten years ago to begin her academic journey as a graduate student in economics.
Dr. B earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Calcutta in Kolkata, India. She then pursued advanced graduate training in the United States, earning a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of New Hampshire. Her academic and professional experiences across countries have shaped her global perspective on economic issues and her own life.
Her research interests span environmental economics, gender economics, labor economics, and international economics, with a particular focus on policy-relevant questions and real-world applications. She is deeply committed to teaching and mentoring students, emphasizing critical thinking, data-driven analysis, and the application of economic theory to contemporary social and environmental challenges.
Exercise Science/Doctor of Physical Therapy Student
Shelly is a third-year Exercise Science major in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program with a minor in Applied Spanish for Healthcare Professionals. She is actively involved on campus as a Student Representative to the Board of Trustees, Valley Blue Coat, Peer Tutor, Writing Mentor, Footloose Line Dance Club Treasurer, and member of the Handbell Choir, Honors Program, LVC FBLA Collegiate Chapter, and several other clubs. Off campus, Shelly is involved in the Four Diamonds Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) Council, where she helps to create goals and action plans to steer programming for Penn State Health Pediatric Oncology patients. Shelly also serves as a counselor for Camp Can Do, an oncology camp, and has recently joined Penn State College of Medicine’s Oncology, Nutrition, and Exercise (ONE) Group as an intern. She studied abroad this past summer in Costa Rica.
Shelly’s passion for the field of physical therapy and oncology rehabilitation is formed through her journey through and following Ewing Sarcoma, an aggressive bone cancer, at the age of 8. She credits her own physical therapists for helping her pursue a second chance at an active life through learning to walk with a prosthetic foot, and she believes physical activity can empower cancer patients and survivors in meaningful ways. Cancer reshaped her perspective, teaching her deeper compassion and the value of a strong support network. Shelly’s love for people and learning strengthens her desire to help others just as her physical therapists have helped her.
Shelly finds joy reading, exercising, hiking, traveling, watching movies, and spending time with family, especially her twin sister and best friend, Kelly. She is always ready for a conversation and embraces each opportunity to share her experiences with others.
Community Organizer & Event Planner, OnePA
Tyler Hartl is a 2024 graduate of LVC and now a community organizer and event planner with OnePA. From athletics to study abroad to multiple majors, Tyler made the most of his time at LVC. He began his studies as a Business Administration major, later adding majors in International Business and Marketing, as well as a French concentration. Outside the classroom, Tyler represented the Dutchman on the football field, served as Resident Assistant, and studied abroad in the Netherlands and Canada.
Today, his focus is on base building and creating relationships within the city of Harrisburg and Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. These efforts are focused on supporting a grassroots movement centered on people’s power through voter education, combating political disillusionment, and fostering leadership development. In his free time, he enjoys continuing to organize for different causes, the process of language learning, experiencing cultural immersion, and engaging in various creative outlets and entrepreneurship.
IIL Committee
The Committee for Inclusive & Intercultural Learning (IIL) actively promotes and maintains an inclusive and equitable environment for all members of the LVC learning community.
IE Symposium History
2026: Perspective: Reframe Your Reality
Keynote Panelists:
- Dr. Protika Bhattacharjee, Co-chair of Business & Economics, Assistant Professor of Economics
- Shelly Bliss ’27, D’29, Exercise Science / Doctor of Physical Therapy student
- Tyler Hartl ’24, Community Organizer & Event Planner, OnePA
2025: Resilience: Building Stronger Together
Keynote Speaker: Kristal Turner-Childs, Retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Pennsylvania State Police
2024: Creating Belonging: A Call to Action
2023: Inclusive Excellence: Preparation for 21st Century Careers and Communities
Keynote Panelists:
- Shauntey James, Ph.D., J.D., Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Penn State Harrisburg
- TaLisa Ramos-Watts, MSW, LSW, CCTP-I, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Education, PA Department of Education
- John Lawn, President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts
- Dr. Matthew Silvis, Medical Director of Primary Care Sports Medicine, Vice Chair of Clinical Operations of Family and Community Medicine, and Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Penn State Health
2022
Keynote Speaker: Saul Flores, philanthropist, photojournalist, and speaker who is nationally recognized for his social impact projects
2021
Keynote Speaker: Tim Wise, prominent anti-racist writer and educator
2020
Keynote Speaker: Ruth Naomi Floyd, vocalist, composer and music educator with theme of social justice
2019
Keynote Speaker: Marvin Worthy, diversity and community engagement consultant
2018
Keynote Speaker: Calvin Sun, MD is an Emergency Medicine resident physician, civil rights activist, dancer, and entrepreneur based in NYC
2017
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Charles H.F. Davis, Director of Higher Education Research and Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education
2016
Keynote Speaker: PA Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine, became the highest-ranking openly transgender government official in U.S. history when she was confirmed by the Senate as the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health in March 2021
2015
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Michael Kimmel, one of the world’s leading experts on men and masculinities and SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Stony Brook University
2014
Keynote Speaker: Yewande Austin, Founder/President of the Global Institute for Diversity and Change