Volume 2, Issue 9: October 29, 2020
R.I.S.E.* Up Newsletter
*Reinforcing Inclusion through Skill-building and Education
headshot - Tiffany Galvin Green
From the Desk of the VPDEI:
Election Week: Caring for Ourselves,
Caring for Others,
Caring for the Common Good

Election Day is less than a week away. In this divisive and polarized moment, many people are navigating difficult conversations with colleagues, students, family members, neighbors and friends.

How are you preparing yourself and your community for the election and its aftermath? How are you making this a teachable moment, both in and out of the classroom, to help people navigate different viewpoints? How are you supporting others in exercising their freedom of speech without exacerbating conditions of trauma for others?

We have compiled an Election 2020 Resource Guide with some resources on leading and participating in dialogue on difficult issues, JCU resources for support and community, tips for self-care and more. We encourage you to take advantage of these resources during this challenging week.
Let's check in after the election! Our division has two great opportunities this week for us to connect with one another (see listings below for details):

  • Wednesday, November 4, 9:00 am - DEI Division "Coffee with Colleagues" Morning-after-the-Election Edition (for faculty and staff)
  • Thursday, November 5, 11:30 am - CSDI Virtual Hangout (all JCU community members welcome)

Finally, remember that no matter what happens in the coming weeks, our community is strengthened by our shared mission: a commitment to educating leaders who will make the world a more just, peaceful and equitable place to live for everyone. 

Take care of yourself. Take care of each other. Be kind. Stay strong.

Sincerely,

Tiffany Galvin Green, Ph.D.,
Vice President for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Division Announcements
"Coffee with Colleagues" - Morning-After-the-Election Edition
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Check in with your community on the day after the election! The Vice President for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and DEI Division staff will host a virtual drop-in coffee hour for colleagues.

Wednesday, November 4
9:00-10:00 am

All JCU faculty and staff are welcome to stop in and say hello.

Passcode: NOV4.
A Note from the Title IX Coordinator:
Headshot - Eric Butler
Eric Butler, Title IX Coordinator:

On-demand employee training on the Sexual Harassment & Interpersonal Violence Policy is now available through Canvas. This training helps employees understand their responsibilities under the policy, and offers guidance on how to support someone who has experienced a violation of the policy. This training will be required for all new employees, and is available on a continuing basis to employees who need to refresh their understanding of these responsibilities. The training will take most users 20-30 minutes to complete. 

Questions about the Sexual Harassment & Interpersonal Violence Policy should be directed to Title IX Coordinator Eric Butler at TitleIX@jcu.edu.

Questions about accessing Canvas or other technical issues should be directed to the ITS Service Desk at servicedesk@jcu.edu or x3005. 
A Note from the SAS Director:
Allison West Kaskey - headshot
Allison West Kaskey,
Director of Student Accessibility Services:

A recent survey report published by the Student Experience in the Research University Consortium has found that students with disabilities are more likely to experience financial hardships, mental health challenges and food and housing insecurity as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Man sitting at computer holding a sign reading HELP

Stay tuned for more conversations in collaboration with Student Accessibility Services about how we can work together as a university to support students with disabilities in this unprecedented time.
A Note from the CSDI Director:
Head shot of Salo Rodezno
A note from Salo Rodezno,
Director of the Center for
Student Diversity & Inclusion:

The Division for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and specifically the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion (CSDI) re-launched their online educational module titled Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Students in early September 2020.

The course was among several required online prevention courses for incoming first-year students and our learning goals for students included:
  • Learning about key concepts related to identity, bias, power, privilege and oppression.
  • Understanding the benefits of being part of a diverse community.
  • Developing classroom and workplace skills related to ally behavior, self-care, and creating inclusive spaces.

Here are key insights from the course as of Wednesday, October 28, 2020:
  • 75% of first-year students completed the course.
  • Out of these 448 learners we learned that:  
  • 93% strongly agree it is important to treat others with respect.
  • 65% strongly agree that their student peers on campus believe that it is important to treat others with respect. 
  • 66% strongly agree that they would respect a person who spoke up if someone was engaging in bias-related behavior. 
  • 65% agreed that other students at JCU should take the course.
  • 59% shared that their openness to interacting with people who were different from them improved a lot.
  • 58% shared that their preparedness to engage in ally behavior improved a lot. 
  • 58% shared that their knowledge about DEI improved a lot.
  • 53% strongly agree that they would intervene if they witnessed a bias-related incident.
  • 55% strongly agree and expect that our campus will be an inclusive place for people with disabilities. 
  • 54% shared that their openness to discussing DEI issues improved a lot.
These findings give us great hope as we enter the second half of the fall semester. Returning students (sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students) will receive an invitation in early November to complete the course. We look forward to sharing those results next semester.
CSDI Fall Hangouts
The Center for Student Diversity & Inclusion will host a series of fall community hangouts each week on Zoom. The next hangouts will be tomorrow, Friday, October 30th at 5:00 pm and next week on Thursday, November 5th at 11:30 am. Grab a snack and drink and come say hello!
Passcode: 992027

The same link and passcode will work for each weekly hangout. All are welcome and no RSVP is necessary. Come join the hangout and check in with your community! For more information, visit CSDI on Instagram.
Promo image for Spooky Halloween program
CSDI's 3rd Annual
"Spooky Halloween"
Ready for a spooky evening? Join the CSDI staff and special guests to share supernatural stories from across the globe on this fright night! Dressing up in a costume or mask is encouraged!


Friday, October 30th, 5:00 pm
Course Registration begins soon.
Take a course focused on diversity, equity or inclusion this spring!
image of Dr Nakano teaching Japanese
We asked our faculty to tell us which courses on the Spring 2021 schedule addressed topics such as cultural diversity, racial justice, equity, economic justice, accessibility and ableism, and other topics in the DEI sphere.

We heard back from dozens of our faculty offering information about courses in many disciplines that address these issues. We have compiled a preliminary list of Spring 2021 courses using the information they have shared with us.

Students: if you are looking for more courses in these areas for Spring, take a look at this list and see the many areas where you can learn more about these important issues as part of your JCU curriculum!

(If you are aware of any other courses for Spring 2021 that should be added to this list, please email them to us at diversity@jcu.edu .)
A few spaces still remain for our November
Community Book Read!
Cover image - Braiding Sweetgrass
For November 2020, in honor of Native American Heritage Month, we are pleased to announce our community book read: Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass.

In this, her newest book, Kimmerer, a botanist in the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, combines her expertise in botanical sciences with traditional knowledge about plants gained through her cultural heritage. You can read more about Kimmerer in this interview published earlier this year.

This book read is open to ALL faculty, staff and students. Registrants will receive their own copy of the Kindle ebook to keep. We still have a few copies remaining, so please register if you are interested in joining us next week.
Register now for
LGBT 101 for Allies
Registration is now open for our first RISE Safe Zone program of the 2020-21 academic year: LGBT 101 for Allies, facilitated by our partners from the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland.

Date: Monday, November 16
Time: 3:00 - 4:00 pm
Where: Virtual via Zoom
Open to: JCU students, faculty and staff
Promo image for LGBT 101 program
Is Your Halloween Costume Respectful?
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While most of us will be celebrating Halloween virtually this year, we may still be choosing a costume for the celebration. Is your costume choice respectful of other people and cultures?

Many Halloween costumes reinforce stereotypes of particular cultures, religious traditions, genders, or races, or incorporate cultural symbols in ways that are disrespectful or even harmful to members of those groups.

These costume choices can cause offense and hurt others by perpetuating negative or reductionist stereotypes. One's long-term personal and professional reputation can also be negatively impacted for years by a photo of their poorly chosen costume circulating on social media.

We encourage our readers to follow hashtags on social media such as #CultureNotCostume and #IAmNotACostume to learn more. Wishing you a safe [and respectful] Halloween!
Grad School Tips for Underrepresented Students
Collection of old books
Considering graduate school but don't know where to begin? A diverse grad student panel will provide tips to students of color, low-income students, first-generation students, gender or sexual minorities, & others who are considering advanced degrees.

When: Monday, Nov. 2, 2020 @ 3-4p.m. EST
Meeting ID: 687 854 3822
Passcode: 213854
Image for JCU commemoration of Transgender Day of Remembrance Nov 20
Transgender Day of Remembrance is recognized annually on November 20th to honor the memory of those murdered in acts of anti-transgender hate.
Readers Needed for 3rd Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance at JCU
November 20, 5:00 pm
CSDI is seeking 10-15 readers to help read names of our fallen transgender siblings in 2019-2020. Instructions will be provided for this virtual event.

We also welcome original poems, personal reflections, artwork, and short stories to be shared at this year's event.

Please email Salo Rodezno for more information.
Did You Know? Today is Latina Equal Pay Day.
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Today, Thursday, October 29, marks National Latina Equal Pay Day in the U.S. The day changes annually based on how long it takes the average Latina woman’s earnings to equate to the average earnings of White men from the prior year.

This year, Latinas were paid 55 cents for every dollar White, non-Hispanic men make. In comparison, White, non-Hispanic women are paid 79 cents, Black women 63 cents, and Asian American women 87 cents. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened these wage gaps. According to the Pew Research Center, the unemployment rate of Latina women increased nearly 15 percent from February to April alone.

You can learn more about Equal Pay Day by following the social media hashtags #LatinaEqualPay, #Trabajadoras, and #OwnYourPower2020.

*adapted from a news brief in INSIGHT into Diversity
Other JCU events of interest:
Image of wall mural in the Boler School of Business
New Organization for
Boler Students of Color
The Boler Inclusive Excellence Team is working with students to create an organization for Boler students of color. The first meeting was held yesterday, Wednesday, October 28. We look forward to hearing more from this organization soon! For more information, contact Dr. Joanna Garcia.
Staff of Color ERG
Movie Trivia Night
The Staff of Color Employee Resource Group will host a virtual Movie Trivia Night on Wednesday, November 4 at 6:00 pm via Zoom.

Door prizes, fun trivia, and fun with colleagues!

Contact Angela O'Stricker to register.
Promo image for Movie Trivia Night
R.I.S.E. Higher: Featured Article of the Week
Black Workers and the University
Black workers at universities are among the most vulnerable people on campuses. But they often are left out of conversations about racial justice.
By Lilah Burke
Inside Higher Ed, October 27, 2020

Racial justice is at the center of campus debates and activism and yet lower-wage workers often are left out of those conversations.

“The kinds of struggles that happen on university campuses tend toward the symbolic,” said Táíwò. “They also tend to emphasize to an outsize degree the kinds of concerns that academic workers have as academics rather than as workers, and that students have.”

...“I don’t see much point in decolonizing a reading list on a campus that is forcing Black people out of their homes,” Táíwò said. “I don’t even think hiring Black faculty to give more radical discussions at fancy conference centers and ignoring the people who clean up after them is a politics that makes sense, of racial justice or of any other sort.”

.... (click below to read more)
Announcements from our network:
Dia de Muertos promo flyer
Día de Muertos events
at Cleveland Public Theatre
Oct 31 - Nov 1, 2020

A vibrant cultural celebration for the whole family, the annual “Day of the Dead” honors the memory of those who have passed and is a treasured holiday in Mexico and throughout Latin America. This year’s activities include indoor, outdoor, and virtual altar and cemetery presentations.
Icon of Sr Antonia Ebo
Celebrating Women Witnesses for Racial Justice
on All Saints Day
Nov 1, 2020, 7 pm - via Zoom

On November 1, 2020, All Saints Day, FutureChurch will celebrate a liturgy celebrating the lives of Black Catholic Women who have shaped our faith tradition and challenged us to work for racial justice -- in the Church and in the world.  


Association of American Colleges & Universities Free Webinar:
Fostering Student Success through Equity-Minded Peer Tutoring
Monday, November 2, 2020, 2:00 pm
Nov 2 AACU webinar promotional image
Do peer tutoring and other educationally purposeful peer interactions (EEPI's) have the same benefits for students as more widely recognized high-impact practices? This webinar will introduce the EPPI concept, and panelists will discuss ongoing research on the potential of EPPIs to promote equity and student success, especially in a virtual world.

This webinar is FREE for AAC&U members. (If you would like to attend but do not have login credentials for the AAC&U website, you can use your JCU email address to create a new account from the webinar registration page. )
promo flyer for roundtable with Angela Davis at USF November 4
USF Roundtable
with Dr. Angela Davis
Our colleagues at the (fellow Jesuit institution) University of San Francisco will be hosting Civil Rights icon Dr. Angela Davis for a virtual roundtable discussion on Wednesday, November 4 at 6:30 pm ET in conversation with Dr. Mary Wardell-Ghirarduzzi, USF Vice Provost for Diversity Engagement and Community Outreach. This event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required.
November 3 General Election:
What is your voting plan?
For more information about student get-out-the-vote efforts, visit the Instagram page of

Not sure how or where to vote? Reach out to Campus Election Engagement Project Fellow
Blue Streaks - vote as though your community depends on it - November 3 2020
Image - book cover of Caste - The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Caste ebook giveaway winners!
We are pleased to announce the winners of our e-book giveaway! All four winners will receive their own ebook copies of Isabel Wilkerson's 2020 book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

The winners are:
  • Melissa Yon, Administrative Assistant, Dept. of Chemistry
  • Melissa Santana, Graduate Student, Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  • Lauri Strimkovsky, Vice President for Finance and Administration
  • Sydnia Tcheurekdjian, Arrupe Program Director

Thanks to all of our participants in last week's survey! Watch this newsletter for more ebook giveaways in the future!
Other articles we're reading this week: