CREATING INCLUSION

Welcoming all students into

Clark College’s

Advising and Career Services

PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES

Provide basic understanding of institutional oppression.

Gain understanding of the roles that each of us play in creating an

inclusive learning and work environment.

Develop tools to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for

all.

Reflect on individual experiences relating to diversity,

multiculturalism and inclusion.

Reflect on the unique experiences and diverse needs of the students,

staff and community that Clark College serves.

DISCUSSION GUIDELINES

Operate from philosophies of nonviolence and gentle personalism:• In part, nonviolence includes the non-humiliation of anyone• In part, gentle personalism is profoundly about love and standing up for one

another’s rights and freedoms.

One person talks and everyone listens. Please do not interrupt the

person speaking to interject comments.

Use I statements and reserve judgmental statements.

Check Assumptions and ask for clarification when needed.

Step-up—find your voice. Step-back—make room for everyone to

participate.• W.A.I.T.—Why Am I Talking?

Introductions: What’s your name? What are you Studying? How do you define diversity?

We all have very different understandings of diversity, lets try to make sure that we all understand some of the basic terminology as we begin to move forward into our conversation:

PRIVILEGE Unearned access to resources (social power) only readily available to some people as a result of their social group membership

SOCIAL JUSTICE

A vision of society in which the distribution of resources is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure.

ALLIES Members of dominant social groups (e.g. men, Whites, heterosexuals) who are working to end the system of oppression that gives them greater privilege and power based on their social-group membership

OPPRESSION A system that maintains advantage and disadvantage based on social group memberships and operates, intentionally and unintentionally on individual, institutional, and cultural levels

CAMPUS CLIMATE

A measure — real or perceived — of the campus environment as it relates to interpersonal, academic, and professional interactions

Basic Concepts continued:

INTERRUPTION To hinder or stop the action or discourse of (someone) by breaking in on

PROFESSIONALISM

Exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace

INCLUSION Practice of welcoming every person. Something that does not leave any part or group out OR The active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity—in people, in the curriculum, in the co-curriculum, and in communities (intellectual, social, cultural, geographical) with which individuals might connect—in ways that increase one’s awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathic understanding of the complex ways individuals interact within systems and institutions.

INSTITUTION Established societal networks that covertly or overtly control the allocation of resources to individuals and social groups and that set and influence cultural norms and values.

CULTURE Aspects of a social environment that are used to communicate values such as what is considered good and desirable, right and wrong, normal, different, appropriate, or attractive. The means through which society creates a context from which individuals derive meaning and prescriptions for successful living within that society

SOCIALIZAION Process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, language, social skills, and value to conform to the norms and roles required for integration into a group or community. It is a combination of both self-imposed and externally imposed rules, and the expectations of the others.

DIVERSITY AS DEFINED BY CLARK COLLEGE

Diversity at Clark College is defined as the

participation of a rich variety of social groups in

the college community with particular emphasis on

including historically disadvantaged groups in the

college. A diverse college community enhances

learning through individuals working

collaboratively with people from other social

groups and backgrounds.

CLARK’S DIVERSITY VISION

Clark College recognizes, understands,

confronts and challenges the

institutional systems of privilege, power

and inequality so that all members of

the Clark College community can

support student success.

DISCUSSION

Are the definitions provided similar to your existing

understanding?

How are these terms applicable to your work at

Clark?

Was this the first time you have seen the diversity

definition or vision?

What words or concepts are missing?

What are examples of each cycle that you have experienced?

INTENT VS. IMPACT

Intention: Impact:

INTENT VS.IMPACT

“What we need to realize is that when it comes to people’s

lives and identities, the impact of our actions can be profound

and wide-reaching. And that’s far more important than the

question of our intent. We need to ask ourselves what might

be or might have been the impact of our actions or words.

And we need to step back and listen when we are being told

that the impact of our actions is out of step with our intents or

our perceptions of self.”

Jamie Utt, 2013

INTERRUPTIONST O H I N D E R O R S T O P T H E A C T I O N O R D I S C O U R S E O F

( S O M E O N E ) B Y B R E A K I N G I N O N

Tips for confronting offensive language

and behavior

OUCH! That stereotype hurts

Ask a question

Interrupt and redirect

Broaden to universal behavior

INTERRUPTIONST O H I N D E R O R S T O P T H E A C T I O N O R D I S C O U R S E O F

( S O M E O N E ) B Y B R E A K I N G I N O N

When interrupted, respond appropriately:

Stop your behavior and/or language immediately

Let go of justifications

Listen

Behave respectfully and without revenge or

retribution

A co-worker shows you a

video from a popular

television show that you say is

offensive and not appropriate.

They tell you that you are too

sensitive and it can’t be that

bad if it’s on prime time

television.

How do you respond?

SCENARIOS

A co-worker sees you leaving

the campus diversity center

and asks why there isn’t a

center for just white people.

They go on to explain that

race and color isn’t important

and that brown folks make too

big of a deal about it all. How

do you respond?