office of diversity and institutional equity spring... · student diversity training launched...
TRANSCRIPT
Issue 2
Spring 2018
Office of Diversity and Institutional Equity
ADVA NCI NG
DI VERSIT Y, EQ UIT Y AN D I NCLUSION
Volume 2
Message from the Director
Welcome to the spring issue of the Office of
Diversity and Institutional Equity’s (ODIE) newsletter.
ODIE leads the University’s strategic efforts of achieving institutional
excellence through diversity, equity and inclusion. This issue focuses on
the many initiatives that we implemented this year. We are so excited
about your response to our newly launched student diversity training and
for the wonderful collaborations on the Tunnel of Oppression and many
other programs. I hope you will build our Diversity Peer Educators into
your curriculum or invite them to your organization to present next aca-
demic year. We have so many other ideas for implementation, as many
of you have. Very soon we will have a suggestion box on our website, so
that you can easily communicate your ideas for programming and other
initiatives. Additionally, highlighted in this issue are the efforts of our 2017
Diversity Award recipients; please read about their efforts.
Thank you for assisting in all initiatives to achieve inclusive excellence.
Roar Lions,
Joan Williams, Director
Office of Diversity and
Institutional Equity UNA Box 5177
Florence, AL 35632 256.765.6341
Www.una.edu/diversity
@DIVERSITYUNA
@DIVERSITYUNA
Student Diversity Training Launched
Diversity Peer Educator (DPE) Program
Launched Fall 2017 with six students who engaged in four weeks of training
During the fall 2017 presented Diversity 101: More than Black and White
Designed to fit into a 50-minute class
REQUEST TRAINING via the ODIE website at una.edu/diversity. Students must apply to be Diversity
Student Ambassadors to be selected as a Diversity Peer Educator.
Diversity Peer Educators: Kayla Toeran, Tymeria Mackey, Emperor Cosby, Brenita Softley. Not Pictured: Kayla Cleveland, Ayzia Gholston, T’Sharra Woods.
Training Includes:
UNA’s Diversity Statement Introduction to topic of diversity Various dimensions of diversity Stereotypes Microagressions Inclusive Communication Cultural Appropriation Interactive components
Diversity Peer Educator Program
Diversity Peer Educators presenting to Dimensions of Diversity FYE.
Advisors and faculty comments: “excellent program, very educational”; “really good”; “ I will
definitely request them again”.
Student comments: “ knowledgeable”; “engaging”; “loved it being interactive”; “made me think about
things differently”.
Presented to over 400 UNA students during the course of six weeks, with 99% of the evaluations
recommending that all students receive the training
Collaboration Creates Powerful Experience
Faculty and staff worked with students to design experiences to help attendees to understand various
forms of oppression. This was our first year to host the Tunnel of Oppression. Forms of oppression
explored were: Disabilities : led by Dr. Trudy Abel & Mr. Jeremy Martin. They simulated a classroom and at-
tendees experienced what it felt like to have a disability. Racism: led by Dr. Freda Coleman-Reed. This
room used true stories to help attendees understand the crippling effects on individuals who experience
racism. Sexism: led by Dr. Lynne Rieff & Ms. Emily Kelley. Their room illuminated the challenges & statis-
tics of the life cycle of women. Homophobia: led by students, Kayla Cleveland & Christina Brown. This
room shed light on the experiences of those who identify as LGBTQ and the responses received when shar-
ing their story. Counselor Ed: Helped attendees to process their experiences in the debriefing room. Stu-
dents left expressing their understanding of various experiences and the power of the project.
Tunnel of Oppression proves to be powerful!
2-Day event during Diversity Education Week
4 Theatre Rooms led by faculty, staff & students
Debriefing Room led by Counselor Education
200 Visited the Tunnel
Evaluations: Excellent; Requested to be an
Annual Event
Dr. Trudy Abel, Associate Professor, Elementary Education
Mr. Jeremy Martin, Director Disability Support Services
Dr. Freda Coleman-Reed, Assistant Professor, Social Work
Dr. Lynne Rieff, Professor, History, Director of Center for Women’s Studies
Ms. Emily Kelley, Coordinator, Center for Women’s Studies
Kayla Cleveland, Student
Dr. Quinn Pearson, Professor Chair, Counselor Education
Counselor Education Intern
Christina Brown, Student
Back Row: Kayla Toeran, Brenita Softley, Tycor ia Johnson, Emper -or Cosby, T’Sharra Woods, Hannah Zimmer, Davia Young. Front Row: Tymeria Mackey, Kayla Cleveland, Taylor Gunter.
Justin Daniels, Tyela Rutland, Katrice Crews, Mary Katherine Morris, Kyle Hall. Not Pictured: Sturgis Baxter , Crystal DiBenedetto, Kijana Mitchell.
ODIE launched the Diversity Student Ambassador program (DSA) in Spring 2014. Senior and Social Work major, Emperor Cosby is the current President . DSA’s have worked very hard and done an excellent job this year working with ODIE to host diversity programming at UNA. Applications are accepted every semester.
Students Engaged in Campus Diversity Leadership Efforts
DSA
DSA & ODIE Spring 2018 Hosted
Educational Programming
Sankofa AA Traveling Museum
Movie Marshall with panel discussion
Women’s HER-itage Escape Room
Mix It Up Game Night
Tunnel of Oppression
Celebrating Black History Month with Sankofa African American Traveling Museum exhibit
Celebrating Women’s History Month at the Women's’ HER-itage Escape Room
DSA Program
Creates opportunities for students to active-ly engage in activities to advance diversity and inclusion at UNA
Provides avenues for selected students to facil-itate discussions, provide peer diversity training and host diversity related programming.
DSA activities seek to promote understanding and respect among all students, leading to a more inclusive campus.
Attended week-long Social Justice Training Institute at Ohio State University
Attends Diversity Conferences
5th Annual CultureFest
CultureFest: Promoting Diversity and Inclusion
through music and food. ODIE presented Culture
Fest during Welcome Month on September 26th.This
year’s co-sponsor was UPC. The event serves as an
introduction and welcome to the diverse campus com-
munity for new and returning students. Over 300 fac-
ulty, staff, students and members of the community
enjoyed diverse music, food and live entertainment.
This is a Signature ODIE Event among students.
2018 CultureFest is scheduled for September 25th.
Some of ODIE’s Collaborations
Fall 2017
August-Success Looks Like Me-BSA & ODIE
Over 100 students networked with pan-
elists who represented engineering,
entrepreneurship, healthcare admin-
istration and the non-profit sector.
September-CultureFest-UPC & ODIE
October-Lyla June Johnston Campus visit
Sacred Way Sanctuary, FYE & ODIE
Lyla visited 3 classrooms and also
spoke & performed at a campus-
wide event
Lyla June Johnston
Activist and performer
speaking and performing
as the Kick-off to
Native American Heritage Month
Celebration
Above: Per formances by the Chinese Dance Group & the Afr ican Drum Ensemble from Nashville
Recognizing Campus Diversity Efforts
2017 Faculty Diversity Award Recipient was Dr. Katie Owens, Murphy, Assistant Professor of
English. Dr. Owens-Murphy has conducted a number of outreach programs that challenge our collective compla-
cency with social and racial inequality, which includes bringing to campus diverse and socially-engaged authors; de-
veloping a speaker and film series around a Regional Graduate Conference in English that examined mass incarcer-
ation and social justice from various disciplinary angles. Her teaching philosophy is that diversity requires us to have
difficult conversations—about difference, about bias, and about inequality. She has devoted her teaching career to
developing tools for conducting and sustaining productive yet sensitive dialogues about race and social justice. She
says, “those conversations often make us feel uncomfortable and even defensive, but until we have them—both in-
side and outside the classroom—we will make very little progress toward addressing inequality”. Her students
have responded positively, in particular, minority students express gratitude that we are putting a
spotlight on issues that are very dear and, often, very personal to them. They report that they feel
“supported” in her courses and in the mentorship that she provides to all students.
2017 Student Diversity Award recipient was Kijana Mitchell, Political Science Major. Kijana was presi-
dent of the Diversity Student Ambassadors and has a passion for advancing diversity, which has been evident on
campus through her implementation of diversity-related events. She initiated a series of "Let's Talk" forums through
her sorority with the goal to give students safe spaces to voice their opinions and engage in meaningful dialogue
on topics ranging from marriage to politics. As a former member of the College of Arts and Sciences Student Ambas-
sadors, she was responsible for organizing a campus wide project called the Voices of Freedom Tour where stu-
dents had the opportunity to visit civil rights and music museums in order to help them understand the connection
between history and music and to expose students to diverse cultures and perspectives. As a Diversity Student Am-
bassador she led many student programming initiatives, such as hosting an interactive Social Justice Leadership Work-
shop. Kijana states, “ These events make recruitment easier because many parents and students
want to know whether UNA is diverse or cares about advancing diversity; being able to cite specif-
ic events to potential students….. gives a "yes" response more credibility. These activities have
the potential of vastly improving campus and department climate because they offer opportunities
for faculty and staff to participate alongside students.”
Kijana Mitchell, Student Dr. Katie Owens-Murphy
Faculty, Department of English Black Student Alliance, Student Organization
Recognizing Campus Diversity Efforts
2017 Student Organization Diversity Award recipient was Black Student Alliance. Rashaun Fletch-
er, President. The Black Student Alliance promotes unity among UNA students, cultural awareness and
encourages membership to all students who want to learn and support the African-American cultural
experience. The organization host the campus’ annual Black History program to provide an opportunity
for the campus and community to advance its understanding of African American culture and histo-
ry. This program consistently has a large attendance and last year’s program included educational
presentations from UNA faculty from the Departments of Communications, History and Culinary Arts, along
with student presentations. This year’s program theme was Black History in the Shoals. Black Student
Alliance hosts weekly discussions around pivotal topics that deal with current events, race, stereotypes,
history, inequality, mental health and various other topics. The organization has a community service
component and mentors children from various areas in the Shoals; they currently volunteer at the YMCA
twice a week. Rashaun Fletcher says, “as president of BSA, I stop Soar Counselors
during the tour to tell them about our organization”.
The 2018 award recipients will be announced at the annual Awards Gala. The UNA Diversity Award is an
annual award established in 2011 to recognize significant achievements of faculty, staff, students and
academic or administrative units toward developing a more culturally diverse, competent and inclusive uni-
versity community and is presented annually by the President at the Awards Gala and are selected by a
committee of faculty, staff and students. Applications and criteria can be accessed at
una.edu/diversity. Applications will open January 28, 2019 through February 28,
2019. Stop by the Hall of Fame on the 2nd floor of the GUC to view the plaques with names of past
award recipients.
Black Student Alliance, Student Organization
Campus Diversity
Pledge Developed
Check out the Recommended Reading under Faculty Resources at una.edu/diversity for some great books!
The Executive Council & the Council
of Academic Deans Kicked off the 3rd
Annual Diversity Education Week with
signing the Diversity Pledge!!
Need Some Good Summer Reading?