Volume 3, Issue 3: January 21, 2021
R.I.S.E.* Up Newsletter
*Reinforcing Inclusion through Skill-building and Education
Photo of Amanda Gorman with quote - When day comes we step out of the shade - aflame and unafraid - the new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light if only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it.

Yesterday, our nation celebrated its 46th Presidential Inauguration with gratitude for a peaceful transfer of power. The Inauguration ceremonies were loaded with high profile celebrities, but for many watching and listening, a great deal of attention was stolen by a relatively unknown speaker, the nation’s first Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman. We encourage all our readers to stop reading, right now, and  watch Gorman deliver her stunning poem "The Hill We Climb" at the Presidential Inauguration ceremonies. 

Amanda Gorman was remarkable through her literary prose and her commanding presence on the Hill yesterday. She delivered words of hope, while beautifully expressing some of the struggles and divisiveness that we still grapple with as a society - calling for a better America.  She is also remarkable because, like President Biden himself, she has a speech articulation disorder, meaning that the fluency of her public speaking is the result of a tremendous amount of hard work. In fact she likens her struggles to speak fluently as a connection not only to the incoming president, but also to previous inaugural poets. In an interview with NPR, Gorman points out that “Maya Angelou was mute growing up as a child and she grew up to deliver the inaugural poem for President Bill Clinton.” She goes on to say, "I think there is a real history of orators who have had to struggle with a type of imposed voicelessness, you know, having that stage in the inauguration." 

In fact, many participants in yesterday's celebration were people with disabilities, while other elements nodded to disability as well, such as the inclusion of the Pledge of Allegiance simultaneously spoken and signed in ASL by South Fulton Fire Captain Andrea Hall, a CODA (Child of a Deaf Adult). The ceremonies themselves were presented with particular attention to accessibility, including live captioning, ASL interpretation, audio description, and cued-language transliteration. According to the American Association of People with Disabilities, in the Inauguration ceremonies, "disability was represented as a part of American culture and politics," While these practices should be normalized and expected, we must recognize that we can only move in this direction when we witness the inclusion of people with a host of different abilities, and practices targeted against ableist assumptions on a grander scale such as it was. 

Here at JCU we are pleased to welcome a speaker next week who has been working, thinking, and writing about the ways that we become more aware of assumptions that cause us to exclude others, and these various kinds of ways we become more inclusive in many areas, such as accessibility, one that is often overlooked even by those working for equity in other areas.

Our speaker is internationally recognized social psychologist Dolly Chugh, whose research on the psychology of "good people" shows why and how bias influences people's thinking and keeps us from recognizing where we are missing opportunities to be more inclusive and equitable. Most importantly, Dr. Chugh's work provides practical tools for overcoming those biases and learning to take action for equity and inclusion. Her work helps "good people" learn how to become more aware of -- and responsive to -- the demands of equity, equal access, and inclusion.

I strongly encourage all members of the JCU community to join us for this important and timely conversation. We can pack the “virtual house”!
Headshot of Tiffany Galvin Green
Sincerely,

Tiffany Galvin Green, Ph.D.,
Vice President for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Postscript:
Last week, we quoted Dr. Rebecca Drenovsky's call to "reflect and reflect deeply, with intellectual rigor, emotional engagement, and ethical reflection." We neglected in our quotation to preserve her attribution of this pedagogical framework to the nonprofit organization Facing History and Ourselves, where it originated. Many thanks to Dr. Drenovsky for helping us to give and share credit as deserved!
THIS WEEK! DON'T MISS IT!
Photo of Dolly Chugh with logos of DEI and CSDI
"Resolving to Become the People We Mean to Be"
A Conversation with Dolly Chugh, Ph.D.
January 26, 2021, 7:00-8:30 pm
The Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion welcome Dolly Chugh, Ph.D., for a virtual "fireside chat" in conversation with Dr. Tiffany Galvin Green, Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Dolly Chugh is an internationally recognized social psychologist and TED speaker and is the author of the book The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias. She is an Associate Professor in the Management and Organizations Department at New York University Stern School of Business. She has been named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics by Ethisphere magazine.

This program is free and open to the public. Advance registration required.
Faculty: Contact the DEI Division at diversity@jcu.edu if we can help you build a class assignment, suggest excerpts from Dr. Chugh's book, or design an extra-credit assignment for your students who attend this event.
Division Announcements
TOMORROW: Webinar: Preparing for "Hot Moments"
in the Classroom and on Campus
Friday, January 22, 2021, 3:00 pm
photo of fire
A "hot moment" is a sudden eruption of tension or conflict in a group setting. Hot moments can emerge in the classroom, athletics practice, meetings, or any other group setting.

Are you prepared to handle a hot moment if it were to emerge in a setting where you are facilitating? What might you need to consider about managing these moments with diverse groups or in virtual settings (or partly virtual, as in the HyFlex classroom)? Can you anticipate when "hot moments" are likely to show up (such as around particular course content, discussion topics, or current events) and plan for them in advance? Are you prepared to be flexible in your planning if a major event or crisis causes a hot moment to intrude? How can you use a hot moment as an opportunity to advance learning, empathy, dialogue and community?

In this webinar, Dr. Tiffany Galvin Green, Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Megan Wilson-Reitz, Administrative Coordinator for Diversity and Equity, will lead a discussion on best practices for engaging "hot moments" and converting them into opportunities for learning, growth and dialogue.

Open to all JCU full-time and part-time employees. Please contact diversity@jcu.edu with any questions or accommodations needs.
Next Thursday! LGBT 101 for Allies
Promo image for LGBT 101 for Allies
We are pleased to welcome our partners from the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland back to campus for a RISE Safe Zone workshop "LGBT 101 for Allies." (This is a repeat offering of the workshop that was offered on Nov. 16.) Please join us for this engaging and informative workshop.

Date: Thursday, January 28
Time: 4:00-5:00 pm
Where: Virtual via Zoom
Open to: JCU students, faculty and staff
promotional image for Better Business Bureau conference program
Dr. Green presents "Difficult Conversations at Work" for the BBB of Greater Cleveland
Dr. Green will present a session on "Difficult Conversations at Work" for the "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Business" Conference sponsored by the Better Business Bureau Serving Greater Cleveland.

This FREE virtual conference runs from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm on Friday, January 28.
Three Important Announcements for Classroom Instructors:
Examination accommodations for students with disabilities

Due to new space and staffing limitations, Student Accessibility Services will no longer be offering exam proctoring services. Instructors should make arrangements to provide accommodations and the appropriate testing environment as specified in the student’s Letter of Accommodation.

If an exam is being administered online, a student’s accommodations can typically be met using Canvas settings. If you need assistance or have questions about how to set up extra time on a Canvas exam, please see this link or contact Jay Tarby. Please refer to the student's letter of accommodation for specific exam accommodations provided for the student.

If a student requires assistive technology and/or specialized equipment for testing accommodations, if you have questions regarding a specific student's testing accommodations, or if you have questions about accommodations in general, please contact sas@jcu.edu for guidance.
Updated Syllabus Statement

Our university Syllabus Statement on Accessibility, Inclusion, Harassment and Bias has been updated. It can be found at this link.

Please remember that instructors are required to include this statement in all course syllabi. For courses posted to the Canvas learning management system, the updated statement is automatically incorporated into the "Learner Support" tab for all student users. Any questions about the syllabus statement can be directed to the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at diversity@jcu.edu.


Listening Session for International Faculty

On Wednesday, January 27 at 3:00 pm, Tiffany Galvin Green, VP for DEI, and Steven Herbert, Provost and Academic Vice President, will host the second of two listening sessions for international faculty to share their needs and relevant concerns in this current moment. These sessions are open to any member of the faculty. Click here to register.
 “Becoming Persons for and with Others: Dr. Martin Luther King and the Struggle for America’s Future”
February 3, 7:00 pm via Zoom
head shot of Dr. Adam Clark
As part of Ignatian Heritage Week and in celebration of Black History Month, Dr. Adam Clark, Associate Professor of Theology at Xavier University, will draw upon the work of St. Ignatius Loyola and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to help heal America. 

This event will take place at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, February 3 on Zoom. Contact mission@jcu.edu with any questions.
CSDI hangouts schedule - Jan 26 2pm - Feb 3 1 pm - Feb 11 11 am - Feb 19 5 pm - Feb 24 4 pm - March 1 1230 pm
CSDI Spring Semester hangouts
The Center for Student Diversity & Inclusion is once more sponsoring virtual weekly hangouts on Zoom. Join the CSDI staff, students and friends on January 26 at 2:00 pm for World Trivia Challenge (with prizes!) and mark your calendar for future programs.
R.I.S.E. Higher: Featured Article of the Week
Refocusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
During the Pandemic and Beyond:
Lessons from a Community of Practice
By Taffye Benson Clayton, Higher Ed Today, January 12, 2021

For several years now, researchers and policymakers have been forecasting the shift in racial and ethnic demographics that is currently underway throughout the United States. These demographic changes have largely informed our understanding of diversity and inclusion as our universities prepared for the influx of a more diverse student body.

Diversity brings with it a number of educational benefits, including improved racial and cultural awareness, enhanced critical thinking, higher levels of service to community, and a more educated citizenry, to name a few. However, other components—namely, equity and inclusion—are essential to delivering on diversity’s promise to higher education more broadly.

Inclusion, often referenced in relationship to diversity, is vital for all members of a campus community, but is particularly important to historically underrepresented and marginalized populations. 

.... (click below to read more)
Announcements from our network...
photo of Heather McGhee
Case Western Reserve University will host policy expert and advocate, Heather McGhee, author of the forthcoming book The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, for their annual MLK, Jr. Convocation on Friday, February 5 at 12:45 pm.

The Sum of Us explores the true cost of racism as the common denominator of our most troubling public problems, and offers a crucial rethink on what we can do to create a more prosperous nation for all.
silhouette image of a group of 7 people in a line with multicolored speech bubbles above their heads
Our friends at the Ignatian Solidarity Network have compiled a number of resources to help those responsible for leading dialogue on controversial or difficult topics. Here are a few relevant resources they have shared:
image of multiple promotional images for MLK Day events at AJCU schools
The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) has compiled a list of MLK Day and Black History Month events at Jesuit institutions across the country, including prayer services, panels, and lectures by scholars and activists. Most are virtual events and open to the public.
What we're reading this week ...


DEI News from Washington, D.C. this week...


What we're listening to this week ...