First SCA DEI symposium held in person; location only accessible via car, stairs

PRINCIPALITY OF THE SUMMITS, AN TIR – The Principality of the Summits has announced it will be hosting the first-in-the-SCA “Known World Symposium on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” All are welcome.

KWSDEI will be held Tuesday through Thursday, June 20-22, at a former private home converted into a conference center, just a 90-minute drive or Uber from the Portland International Airport. The conference facilities are located on the second and third floors of the medieval-inspired Victorian building just outside Detroit, OR. Unfortunately, there is no public transportation access to the site.

“We chose this location because it really represents the best of both worlds for us,” said Stefan Weaver, the Event Steward for KWSDEI. “Because the building hasn’t had any significant updates in the past 60 years, it gives every SCAdian who can afford it a place to talk about our DEI successes in a medieval-ish environment. Once you arrive from the airport, there is space for up to a dozen people to stay on-site in charming, originally-furnished bedrooms, sharing the original bathing facilities, including a beautiful clawfoot tub for cleaning up.”

The reception desk is at the top of a stone staircase leading up from the small gravel parking area at the top of the drive. Check-in for KWSDEI will be located at the top of the spiral staircase that is the access point to the third floor. The site has no elevator.

The available rooms are on the second and third floors in the former servants quarters, with charming period-appropriate double and single beds. Rooms start at $170/night as their mid-week conference rate.

“We’re really excited,” Stefan told The SCAllion. “Known World officer symposia are often targeted specifically at the officers named, but DEI is such an important topic that we wanted to create an event that everyone could attend in person, in this beautiful, remote location.”

Registration will be open beginning on May 1 and will be online only. All SCAdians with reliable internet capabilities can register for in-person activities at that time. Priority for the on-site rooms will be given to sitting Royalty and members of the BoD. Once the rooms are filled, other attendees are welcome to utilize the site’s primitive camping areas for $30 a night, or drive in from the closest hotel, just 25 minutes away. Campsites are located across the creek in the surrounding woodlands and can be accessed from the grounds by several footpaths. The site does not permit any cars on the grounds except on the drive and in the parking area. There are no plans for virtual attendance, and the site has a strict no-animals policy, including service animals.

Professional DEI advocates, including several kingdom DEI officers, have expressed serious concerns over the choice of inaccessible location and facilities, the lack of ADA-mandated accommodations planned, and the discriminatory history of the town, but have been told that this was the preferred site for reasons that have not been explained.