Tired of creating mission statements and action plans for anti-racism and inclusivity only to forget about them? Looking for a supportive and collaborative space to share your experiences about your org’s successes and shortcomings?

In this discussion led by and for students, participants will share and discuss their ideas and strategies for how they can put their words into action in their clubs and organizations. We will discuss questions about the assumptions we make about the people who participate in our organizations and how an organization’s structure may affect its ability to foster the type of community an org is trying to nurture. Rather than assume any one person knows the answer to these questions, we will center the discussion on listening and collaborative learning.

While this space may be particularly helpful for organization leaders, anyone is welcome and encouraged to participate in the discussion. This space is designed to allow people to have the opportunity to learn from one another and grow together through group reflection and encouragement.

The event will begin with facilitators introducing themselves, their pronouns, and the clubs/organizations they belong to. They will also describe how the discussion will go, emphasizing that while there are some discussion questions prepared, it is more important that everyone is really listening and engaging with one another and the topic rather than following a strict schedule. Then as a group, we will discuss whether or not we would like to create ground rules for the discussion. If we decide we would, then we will come up with a few while keeping in mind who the ground rules are protecting (ex. Are they protecting people with privilege from feeling uncomfortable or protecting the people most vulnerable in these conversations?). (First 10-20min)

We will then begin the discussion by allowing participants to share what their clubs are already doing to take action to make their clubs anti-racist, inclusive, and/or liberatory and see where the discussion takes us from there. We will emphasize looking at specific contexts throughout the discussion and will refer to prepared discussion questions if the group would like some prompts. At the end (last ten minutes), we will invite participants to share reflections and what they will do in their own clubs moving forward.

Speakers:

• Darcy Coleman, They/them, Student Involvement Consultant, Class of 2024, Office of Student Involvement, President and former treasurer of MHC Circle K International
• Ciera LeCiel, She/they, Class of 2023, Volunteer Coordinator Circle K International, Board Member of Familia
• Amanda Adams, She/they, Class of 2025, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Mixed Identity Student Collective Group, Assistant Director/Producer for Student Thesis Film 'And/Or'