Pluralism, Inclusion, and Social Justice
Graduates should possess the attitudes, beliefs, values, and self-awareness necessary to serve students who are culturally different from themselves, fostering their full inclusion in their full participation in higher education. Specifically, graduates should:
a. critically examine their own values, world view, assumptions, and biases;
b. develop critical consciousness about ways in which how gender, class, race and ethnicity, language, nationality, citizenship, sexual orientation, age,religion or spirituality, disability, ability, and institutional power affect individuals and their experiences in college;
c. function as allies to groups different from themselves, challenging and supporting individuals and systems around social justice issues.
Graduates should possess the attitudes, beliefs, values, and self-awareness necessary to serve students who are culturally different from themselves, fostering their full inclusion in their full participation in higher education. Specifically, graduates should:
a. critically examine their own values, world view, assumptions, and biases;
b. develop critical consciousness about ways in which how gender, class, race and ethnicity, language, nationality, citizenship, sexual orientation, age,religion or spirituality, disability, ability, and institutional power affect individuals and their experiences in college;
c. function as allies to groups different from themselves, challenging and supporting individuals and systems around social justice issues.
NASPA Multicultural Institute Conference
In December, I had the privilege to attend the NASPA Multicultural Institute Conference in Las Vegas. The conference was my first experience attending an event focused on celebrating diversity and was surrounded with professionals who looked like me, and were striving to improve their campuses diversity climate, which was very empowering. The most impactful workshop for me was the first pre-conference workshop: Let’s Get Real About Racism: Facilitating Conversations Between Whites and People of Color, facilitated by Lee Mun Wah, Director & Founder of StirFry Seminars and Consulting, Inc. The workshop was memorable to
me, because Mr. Lee Mun Wah began the presentation by asking the audience questions and
purposefully being discriminating amongst the audience but I did not realize that until he debriefed the
exercise. It was a real eye opener for me, because it just showed me how oblivious or accustomed I am to
discrimination that I do not even notice it. For those that did notice it, he asked why did they not say
something? This activity really opened the dialogue to our role in society as individuals to really be aware
of how we or other are treated and say something if they are being treated unfairly. It is important for all
professionals especially those who interact with students to be aware of their own multicultural diversity
awareness, because students are looking to us a model on how we handle our interactions with individuals
who have different views than our own (Stewart, 2008).
In December, I had the privilege to attend the NASPA Multicultural Institute Conference in Las Vegas. The conference was my first experience attending an event focused on celebrating diversity and was surrounded with professionals who looked like me, and were striving to improve their campuses diversity climate, which was very empowering. The most impactful workshop for me was the first pre-conference workshop: Let’s Get Real About Racism: Facilitating Conversations Between Whites and People of Color, facilitated by Lee Mun Wah, Director & Founder of StirFry Seminars and Consulting, Inc. The workshop was memorable to
me, because Mr. Lee Mun Wah began the presentation by asking the audience questions and
purposefully being discriminating amongst the audience but I did not realize that until he debriefed the
exercise. It was a real eye opener for me, because it just showed me how oblivious or accustomed I am to
discrimination that I do not even notice it. For those that did notice it, he asked why did they not say
something? This activity really opened the dialogue to our role in society as individuals to really be aware
of how we or other are treated and say something if they are being treated unfairly. It is important for all
professionals especially those who interact with students to be aware of their own multicultural diversity
awareness, because students are looking to us a model on how we handle our interactions with individuals
who have different views than our own (Stewart, 2008).
Action Plan
In CCSD 567: The Role of Diversity in Student Affairs Practice, I chose to become more familiar with Native American Students, a population I did not know much about. Through my action, plan I was able to research and learn more about this population. Pope & Reynolds (1997) mentions a three part multicultural competency model that we utilized as a class to research a different population. The first step was awareness of what I know of the culture, second was knowledge of the culture, and third was developing skills that would assist me in being effective when working with Native American Students. Each of these steps included several activities such as a literature review, viewing a movie, visiting a museum and a reservation, interviewing Native American Professionals and students. These activities helped me to become more aware of the unique needs of Native American Students. The activity I enjoyed the most was visiting the Autry Museum, because they did a beautiful job of displaying and preserving Native American culture and providing visitors with activities such as; Native American Children’s games, storytelling, musical performances as a way to enlighten others to the culture and preserving traditions. I am well on my way on being more aware of the Native American culture, but I know it is “a continuing and unending process that requires learning and relearning (Pedersen, 1988, p 107).
In CCSD 567: The Role of Diversity in Student Affairs Practice, I chose to become more familiar with Native American Students, a population I did not know much about. Through my action, plan I was able to research and learn more about this population. Pope & Reynolds (1997) mentions a three part multicultural competency model that we utilized as a class to research a different population. The first step was awareness of what I know of the culture, second was knowledge of the culture, and third was developing skills that would assist me in being effective when working with Native American Students. Each of these steps included several activities such as a literature review, viewing a movie, visiting a museum and a reservation, interviewing Native American Professionals and students. These activities helped me to become more aware of the unique needs of Native American Students. The activity I enjoyed the most was visiting the Autry Museum, because they did a beautiful job of displaying and preserving Native American culture and providing visitors with activities such as; Native American Children’s games, storytelling, musical performances as a way to enlighten others to the culture and preserving traditions. I am well on my way on being more aware of the Native American culture, but I know it is “a continuing and unending process that requires learning and relearning (Pedersen, 1988, p 107).
Native American Student Affairs Drive-In Conference: Understanding Native Epistemologies, Culture, and Social Structures to Support Native American Higher Education Success
In April of last year, I was fortunate to attend the Native American Student Affairs Drive-In Conference sponsored by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. The conference was highlighting the publication of the book, Beyond the Asterisk; Understating Native American Students In Higher Education. The contributing authors were there to share their story and talk about the sections they had written about. I was particularly interested in attending, because I had just completed the course, CCSD 567: The Role of Diversity in Student Affairs Practice in Fall II, were one of my assignments were to become familiar with the challenges faced by a particular population and I chose Native American Students. Two professionals, Mr. Irvin Harrison, Coordinator of A Native American Student Center at Cal Poly and Joshua Gonzales, Director of Native American Student Programs at UC Riverside and one of the students I had interviewed where there and it was nice to see them again and reconnect.
In April of last year, I was fortunate to attend the Native American Student Affairs Drive-In Conference sponsored by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. The conference was highlighting the publication of the book, Beyond the Asterisk; Understating Native American Students In Higher Education. The contributing authors were there to share their story and talk about the sections they had written about. I was particularly interested in attending, because I had just completed the course, CCSD 567: The Role of Diversity in Student Affairs Practice in Fall II, were one of my assignments were to become familiar with the challenges faced by a particular population and I chose Native American Students. Two professionals, Mr. Irvin Harrison, Coordinator of A Native American Student Center at Cal Poly and Joshua Gonzales, Director of Native American Student Programs at UC Riverside and one of the students I had interviewed where there and it was nice to see them again and reconnect.