In Winter Quarter, the President’s Diversity Fund Committee will present a series of speakers. This series will provide a rich curriculum for our personal learning and for our students’ growth and development.  In turn, we hope that this series will provide a solid foundation for institutional growth that moves Evergreen closer to our aspirations for an inclusive academic community.  Please take note of the opportunities to learn more about the experiences of people of color and to further examine how white people’s experiences influence our world and white people’s capacity to engage in anti-racist pedagogy.

The speakers are scheduled on Mondays, 3:00-5:00 p.m., in the Library Lobby and will also be live-streamed. A facilitated, faculty-focused discussion will follow each speaker.  An all-comers, follow-up discussion opportunity will also be offered on the Thursday immediately following each speaker.

January 11^th       Gyasi Ross – Father, Author, Speaker

January 25^th       Robin DiAngelo – Director of Equity Senior Services, Seattle/King County

February 8^th        Yoshiko Harden – Vice President for Diversity, Bellevue College

February 22^nd     Robin DiAngelo – Director of Equity Senior Services, Seattle/King County

March 7^th            Verónica Vélez – Assistant Professor & Director, Education & Social Justice Minor, Western Washington University

For more information about each speaker, please see this link.

The speaker series will be recorded and available for individual viewing and for use in programs.  Each session in the series is intended to build upon the previous sessions.  Some of the intended learning outcomes from the series include: increased understanding of race and racism, understanding of how institutional racism ensures and sustains racial inequity, and increased ability to communicate across race.

I encourage faculty to think creatively about how to integrate this series into their work winter quarter – incorporating the series in program syllabi and/or strongly encouraging student participation.  I encourage staff supervisors to make this opportunity available to their employees wherever it is possible to do so within the context of providing service to students.

We have a responsibility to improve our capacity to understand our students’ reality – to prepare students who thirst for knowledge, skills, and awareness to engage effectively in this world and to affirm the experience of our students and colleagues of color.

Evergreen is committed to the success of every student we admit and every faculty and staff member we hire. We make this pledge as dedicated educators, as people committed to the larger cause of serving the underserved, and as a community dedicated to establishing and sustaining a college that reflects the diversity of our larger society. Every one of us has a stake in this commitment.

We must address these challenges and a critical step is coming together and engaging deeply in these opportunities for learning and growth. Please make participation in this series a priority; your choice to participate and engage will determine how successful we will be in improving upon the experiences of our students and in advancing our commitment to their success at Evergreen.