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?