2017 Spring Diversity & Inclusion Summit

Diversity means that people of substantially different backgrounds coexist. The art of working together in teams of diverse composition needs to be learned. What does an entrepreneur need to do to be able to fulfill his or her ambitions, in our society? This session will recount the learnings of a foreign-born entrepreneur, who has taught and mentored people from many very different parts of the world. Be ready to express your needs and describe your potential contributions.

The CU Boulder Staff Council in partnership with the Diversity and Inclusion Summit is holding two town halls on Tuesday, February 21^st where students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to come listen and contribute to our open discussion on diversity and inclusion on our campus. We want you to see this as an opportunity to use your voice and suggest improvements on how we can connect across campus and embolden our community. These town halls will highlight departments who are leading change on our campus and implementing innovative diversity and inclusion plans to help change our language, our behavior, and embrace our human differences. We encourage all departments to attend either the morning session at 10:00–11:00 a.m. in UMC 386 or the afternoon session at 3:30–4:30 p.m. in UMC 386. Refreshments provided”

Members of targeted/stigmatized groups encounter oppressive experiences in subtle and overt ways on a regular basis. Sometimes the oppression is heightened due to specific events in the world, e.g., clear instances of discrimination, hate crimes, exposure to toxic campaign rhetoric, and the like. Fortunately, we are not left to our own devices in managing the impact of these kinds of experiences on ourselves and our communities. In this workshop, we will look at what research offers in the way of strategies to deal effectively with oppressive events. We will learn why these events impact us and what specific actions we can take to empower ourselves and our communities in the face of oppression.

This workshop will discuss ways to help individuals slow down and check in with their current physical and emotional status.  An important part of the workshop is helping to identify those times when you are feeling stressed and/or vulnerable and what you need to need reduce stress or cope with vulnerability.  Participants will be provided with self-care skills strategies to address needs and bolster resilience.

The CU Boulder Staff Council in partnership with the Diversity and Inclusion Summit is holding two town halls on Tuesday, February 21^st where students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to come listen and contribute to our open discussion on diversity and inclusion on our campus. We want you to see this as an opportunity to use your voice and suggest improvements on how we can connect across campus and embolden our community. These town halls will highlight departments who are leading change on our campus and implementing innovative diversity and inclusion plans to help change our language, our behavior, and embrace our human differences. We encourage all departments to attend either the morning session at 10:00–11:00 a.m. in UMC 386 or the afternoon session at 3:30–4:30 p.m. in UMC 386. Refreshments provided”

You Can Play works to ensure the safety and inclusion of all in sports - including LGBTQ athletes, coaches and fans. You Can Play works to guarantee that athletes are given a fair opportunity to compete, judged by other athletes and fans alike, only by what they contribute to the sport or their team’s success. You Can Play seeks to challenge the culture of locker rooms and spectator areas by focusing only on an athlete’s skills, work ethic and competitive spirit.

This session will discuss the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) philosophy in relation to the capabilities of iOS devices. In particular, the iPad is a powerful example of a device that incorporates the key tenets of the UDL philosophy, with a variety of built-in accessibility features available to users out of the box as standard options. While many of these features (such as text to speech and speech recognition) were originally designed for people with disabilities, today they can help all learners enjoy equitable access to information, communication and expression. Along with the many apps that can be installed, these accessibility features make the iPad a powerful tool for customizing the learning experience to meet the variable needs of a diverse student population. Other factors such as the portability of the device and its social acceptability have also made the iPad a popular choice for meeting the needs of diverse learners. However, to get the most out of the iPad and its many supported apps, we as educators must move beyond its use as an enhancement of traditional practices and instead explore the unique affordances that make it an ideal tool for redefining and transforming the learning environment. You will leave this session with a toolkit for access and inclusion that will assist you in providing a more flexible learning environment where every one of your learners can succeed.

This discussion focuses on basic approaches to overcome the hurdles of social allyship. This session is useful to people interested in becoming an ally of an underrepresented group to which they don’t belong. The purpose of the session is to offer some answers and useful examples of strategic and day-to-day allyship. Presented by Juan Garcia Oyervides; Vice President of Student Affairs at United Government of Graduate Students; Ginnie Logan, Graduate Co-Senator; Oliver Stagliano, Peer Educator at the Gender and Sexuality Center

This session will highlight the experiences of gender-diverse students at CU Boulder. Drawing from campus climate data, focus groups, and our daily work with students at the Gender and Sexuality Center, we will discuss various ways that gender diverse students navigate educational spaces, and what teaching practices are helpful in creating an optimal learning environment. We will also provide information about exciting new resources to support gender diverse learners on campus.

Does College Athletes have the right to start a movement? This session will explores the roll that social media plays in the world of Athletic and social movements with perspective drawing from the kneeling of Kaepernick, to the Super Bowl Champions refusal of the White House. What’s the verdict, death by Twitter feed or support of free speech. 

This session will introduce the bystander intervention framework as a platform for ally development. This approach opens up participants' ability to see more possible entry points into situations where allies can help. This includes generating a repertoire of strategies for intervening that fit for both the person offering help and the situation they are confronting. We also develop and practice communication skills for being effective as an ally. This includes fostering resiliency in the face of rejection and building stamina for staying engaged with the situation.

Join the Chancellor's Committee for Women (CCW) for lunch to give us feedback on women's issues on the CU Boulder campus. We will provide lunch; you provide your voice. We look forward to meeting you and hearing your thoughts at our monthly Listening Lunches. RSVP to ccwomen@colorado.edu.

* CCW considers women’s issues to include all issues pertaining to women of color, transgender women, genderqueer people, and all other women. These lunch dialogues are open for students, staff, and faculty who are women-identified.

A team of veteran media and PR types will guide you through today’s fraught news/media landscape and give you tried and true methods to discern what’s real news – and what isn’t – so you can focus more on the issues you care about.

Join a facilitated dialogue exploring the diverse range of perspectives, hopes, and fears held by members of the CU community in our post-election climate. Dialogue participants will be invited to share their experiences with issues around diversity and inclusion on campus since the election and how these experiences can shape CU’s ongoing efforts towards inclusive excellence.

A panel of campus experts will share their field experience in preparing meaningful outreach programs. How do they train their team to connect authentically with community partners? What strategies do they use to create an enriching learning environment for all? Participants will gain tools to strengthen their own outreach and engagement work with diverse communities. 

Panelists: Beth Osnes, Associate Professor, Theatre & Dance; Hannah Wilks, Director, Volunteer Resource Center; Nicole Speer, Director of Operations, Intermountain Neuroimaging Consortium; and Satya Chavez, Teaching Artist, Colorado Shakespeare Festival.

Clean It UP - Language Matters (More than a tagline): The Athletics Department recognizes and embraces each individual’s unique value and is committed to diversity and inclusion among its student-athletes, coaches and staff. The use of OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE or words that single out differences creates a culture of DIVISIVENESS and EXCLUSION. The “Clean it Up” campaign is intended to establish an inclusive and professional way of speaking and acting while promoting and respecting the importance of differences through our everyday interaction. Think before you speak. Please join Ceal Barry, Sr. Associate AD/SWA; Mike MacIntyre, Head Football Coach; Alexis Williams, Assistant AD/Ticket Operation; Medford Moorer, Assistant Director of Academics; and student athletes.

UMC 235

This interactive session offers a research-informed, hands-on approach to enacting inclusive pedagogy in post-secondary learning environments. Guided by findings from recent research and classroom observations, participants will gain hands-on experience identifying and responding to a variety of comments and incidents involving implicit-bias, prejudice, or stereotyping. Through small-group interaction, attendees will develop and practice strategies for turning such "flashpoint" moments into encounters which can foster safe, inclusive, and collegial learning environments.

UMC 386

Join a facilitated dialogue exploring the diverse range of perspectives, hopes, and fears held by members of the CU community in our post-election climate. Dialogue participants will be invited to share their experiences with issues around diversity and inclusion on campus since the election and how these experiences can shape CU’s ongoing efforts towards inclusive excellence.

UMC 247

Level 3 Communications, is a global telecommunications technology company with over 13,000 employees operating across five continents and 60 different countries. Join a panel discussion with representatives from their Employee Resource groups as they share how they have transformed the company and why diversity and inclusion is a key factor that enables their global business operations. Ana Santiago, Vice President, Level 3 Women; Antonio Vitale, Secretary/Treasurer, Level 3 Latinos; Amy Ban, Secretary, Level 3 LGBT; David Hughes, President, Level 3 Veterans; Benji Saber, Events Chair, Level 3 Millennial Minds (Benji is a CU Leeds and Diversity Scholars Program alum)

UMC Aspen Rooms

Arlie Russell Hochschild spent five years immersed among Tea Party loyalists—now mostly supporters of Donald Trump— to try to explore the “deep story” underlying the right that remains unrecognized by the left. This facilitated discussion will provide a brief overview of Hochschild’s research and explore how shifting cultural perspective and striving to develop tolerance for intensely different ways of thinking may help us bridge the “empathy wall” that divides the political landscape of the United States. The presenters encourage attendees to review Hochshild’s article I Spent 5 Years with Some of Trump’s Biggest Fans. Here’s What They Won’t Tell You prior to attending this session.

UMC 245

This session will highlight the ways that heteronormative assumptions influence and hinder our work at the university. From how we report on the rates of sexual assault, to how we think about bathroom accessibility, to how we address students, heteronormativity operates as a powerful deterrent to inclusive practices. Join us in a discussion of how to notice and challenge heteronormative structures and practices at the university.

Come join the Chancellor's Accessibility Committee for a discussion of disability community at CU Boulder as well as an update on the accessible transportation initiative. We would like to continue our discussion around disability community on the Boulder campus, with an emphasis on identifying specific steps the university can take to foster community In addition, we will also provide the latest updates to Accessible Campus Transportation proposal, including Main Campus coverage,vehicle selection, staffing requirements, and campus partners

Join Ayla Sullivan, 2017 Denver Youth Poet Laureate, for a poetry workshop on how our own narratives as marginalized peoples give way to active healing through storytelling. By writing our own unique experiences, we begin to heal and celebrate ourselves through a radical act of self love and understanding that leads us to greater forms of connection, empowerment, and advocacy in this (particularly) difficult time.

Join a facilitated dialogue exploring the diverse range of perspectives, hopes, and fears held by members of the CU community in our post-election climate. Dialogue participants will be invited to share their experiences with issues around diversity and inclusion on campus since the election and how these experiences can shape CU’s ongoing efforts towards inclusive excellence.

This panel will discuss topics related to religion, pedagogy, and the American multicultural classroom. Two overarching questions that we will engage with in the facilitated discussion include the following: 

• How do our diverse students engage with topics with which they have preconceived notions, particularly in a world where ideas on religions and their practitioners such as Islam and Muslims are widespread, and how do we as professors engage with such topics in the college classroom in ways that enrich our students' lives?
• How do we engage with topics in the classroom, overtly sensitive ones or otherwise, in light of our own personal or perceived identities?

Join CU Boulder Qualified Administrators for an overview of the group and individual intercultural development inventory (IDI) process. Intercultural competence is the ability to shift perspective and behavior across cultural similarities and differences. Engaging in the IDI process will allow your department and individuals a better understanding of their strengths and challenges that influence their contributions to an inclusive campus environment. In other words, the IDI provides in-depth insights on how individuals and groups make sense of cultural differences and also how they respond to cultural differences. The IDI measures both one’s mindset and skill-set.

The Chancellor’s Standing Committee on Gender and Sexuality welcomes all LGBTQ individuals and supporters of the LGBTQ community to a caucus discussion on inclusiveness and belonging on campus. This caucus will provide an open forum for talking about the challenges that individuals face at CU related to expressing their sexual and gender identity, as well as intersections with other social identities. We will also discuss existing and future efforts to improve the campus climate for LGBTQ individuals. Light refreshments will be provided.

This session will take a deep look into the world of fake news. We'll examine various theories of media sociology to understand how fake news happens and spreads. We'll highlight steps people can take to identify what is and what isn't fake news. Essentially, this session will combine vital elements of both media sociology and media literacy to understand one of the biggest plagues in our country currently: fake news.

Join a facilitated dialogue exploring the diverse range of perspectives, hopes, and fears held by members of the CU community in our post-election climate. Dialogue participants will be invited to share their experiences with issues around diversity and inclusion on campus since the election and how these experiences can shape CU’s ongoing efforts towards inclusive excellence.