This session will explore the many dimensions of diversity, including terminology, definitions, usage, and individual understanding.  In beginning our full day exploration and dialogue on “Inclusive Excellence at UWSP,” participants will engage in reflective conversations around diversity.

Dr. David Shih

This session argues for the need for antiracist professional development to accompany any organizational change intended to incorporate the values of equity, diversity, and inclusiveness.  I will give a brief synopsis of UW-Eau Claire’s history of antiracist organizing with the Dismantling Racism process.  Following that will be an explanation of the differences between antiracism (as a movement and consciousness) and cognate terms such as “diversity” and “tolerance.”  Projects and initiatives for “diversity” that do not emerge from an antiracist consciousness, I will explain, may reinforce dominant ways of knowing and reproduce familiar outcomes.  I will then discuss how antiracist professional development can break down interpersonal, cultural, and institutional barriers to equitable outcomes for students of color.  There will be time for a question-and-answer period to discuss issues related to the forms and dynamics of racism specific to predominantly white institutions like UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stevens Point.

Dr. Jim Mohr

This session explores becoming an agent of personal and institutional change through collaboration with people who are part of an identity-group different from one’s own. 

Through the application of a critical lens, it is possible to examine how power and privilege are used and expressed within institutions so they can be transformed to be inclusive, just, and equitable.  Participants will have an opportunity to discuss opportunities for transformation. 

Dr. Daisy Rodriguez Pitel

This session will address the various ways that inclusivity is interconnected with individual and institutional responsibility.  Participants will broaden their understanding of his/her individual role as well as the institution’s role in creating inclusive campus communities and engage in dialogue on the impact inclusive excellence has on the campus culture, climate, and student experience.