Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
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| Dear Community,
This week marks the halfway point of the fall semester. Often when I take a long walk, I wonder if I traveled too far. Do I have enough strength to return home? I know I will get there, but at what cost. My secret to continuing momentum in DEI work is to make a conscious effort to bring joy into how I show up in various spaces. Joy facilitates my self-care and fuels my engine. Joy is my vehicle to identify pathways to sustain my passion, motivation, and hope for inclusion. Joy creates a way for me not to be siloed but creates communities of belonging for myself and others.
In this issue of the DEI Newsletter, you will see many examples of individuals, departments, organizations that help us to amplify the voices of social justice and restorative practices. People who bring joy to their work. Moreover, October marks the celebration of NYU’s LGBTQ+ Center’s 25th Anniversary and the achievement of LGBTQ icons during the National LGBTHistoryMonth.com. Above all, let us reach beyond our immediate radius to be a part of global conversations that educate, inform, and celebrate.
Sincerely,
Richeleen Dashield
Director, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
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| TransparencyHow, when, and to whom are we communicating important information? Are we only communicating when it is easy or also when it is not?
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| Globally Inclusive
Holiday & Observance CalendarSilver is proud to be a diverse community with a wide range of cultural and faith traditions. To foster an inclusive environment and help members of the community make scheduling decisions that account for students, faculty, and staff celebrations, the Office of DEI has created the Global Holidays & Observances Calendar now available for subscription in Google Calendar. This calendar was modeled after the Calendar of Observances created by the Anti-Defamation League. Questions? Contact us at silver.dei@nyu.edu.
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| TrustHow are we following through on our responsibility to antiracism? What actions are we taking to ensure all members of the Silver community are protected against bias?
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| Trans Inclusive Practices in the Classroom
The NYU Office of Global Inclusion released a guide to serve as a resource to assist NYU faculty in creating a more inclusive and affirming classroom environment for transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and other gender diverse students. The guide is also a great resource for staff and students.
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Perspectives: Vaccine Hesitancy and Communities of ColorWednesday, October 27 - 10:00 AM - 2:00 PMPresented by the B.O.L.D. Committee of the NASW-NYC and hosted by Pia Raymond Hargrove, LMSW (Silver alum and Adjunct Assistant Professor), this virtual workshop will help participants develop tools for navigating difficult conversations around vaccine hesitancy and self-care in BIPOC communities. Eligible for two (2) social work continuing education credits, participants will gain insight into the various intersections influencing vaccine hesitancy, such as fear of deportation and the mistrust historic health disparities perpetuate ongoingly.
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| AccountabilityHow are we holding each other accountable for antiracism?
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Making Antiracism Institutional at SilverReflections by Benjamin Sher, Director, Office of Global and Lifelong Learning
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Pictured left to right: Benjamin Sher (Director, OGLL), student volunteer, and Jenna Adolph (Events Coordinator, OGLL) at the registration table for a 2017 workshop
How does the Office of Global and Lifelong Learning advance social justice in its work?
The Office of Global and Lifelong Learning has committed itself to analyze and assess all the components of the office (e.g. administrative support for study-away; conferences, workshops, seminars, self-study & Post-Master’s certificate programs) to ensure that they hold a social justice frame. For example, we engage annually with the Steinhardt School of Applied Psychology to offer a conference that addresses social justice practices in supervision and clinical work. This year we are re-focusing on carceral injustices to follow up on the “Re-Imagine Justice Conference” we held in 2016. Our aim for this conference is to go beyond information-sharing; we hope to produce an expert paper that can be used to frame policy and practice in the New York City and State criminal justice community.
How does the Office of Global and Lifelong Learning hold itself accountable to anti-racist practice?
Last year, with the support of our Lifelong Learning Faculty Advisory Committee, we made a commitment that our stand-alone workshops must include an anti-racist frame in order to be considered for facilitation. We are a work in progress, but we have moved our programming in this direction.
What is something the Silver community should know about the Office of Global and Lifelong Learning that they may not already know?
OGLL also collaborates for Continuing Education with many groups and organizations. Recently, these have included the NYU Child Study Center, the McSilver Institute, Alma, NYC Health + Hospitals, Henry Street Settlement, Getting Out and Staying Out, and Westside Center for Assisted Living. On average, the office supports about 7-10 CE programs a month.
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| CommunityHow are we creating an environment for healing and working together? Are we resisting isolation and allowing ourselves to be seen?
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Dr. Michael A. Lindsey Highlights Black Youth Suicide in New Podcast SeriesContent Warning: Topics include suicide, depression and bullying.
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In this 8-part podcast series, NYU Silver professor and Executive Director of the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research Dr. Michael A. Lindsey joins parents of suicide victims, suicide survivors, and mental health professionals to discuss the troubling and growing trend of suicide in Black American youth.
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S-BAN Receives NYU Alumni Association Event of the Year Award
The Silver Black Alumni Network received the 2021 Event of the Year award from the New York University Alumni Association (NYUAA) for their February 2021 “Black History Month Workshop Series: Community, Connection, & Celebration.” The series highlighted how Blackness impacts social work practice and celebrates Blackness in the social work profession. Ebonee Mears, Nerija Rosemond, Lauren Stair, and Ymani Hawkins, 2020 graduates of the MSW program, founded S-BAN in the spring of 2021 to promote, support, and celebrate the community-centered initiatives of Black NYU Silver alumni.
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Professor Michelle Munson’s Mental Health InitiativeNYU Silver Professor Dr. Michelle Munson focuses on mental health services research and intervention development and testing in young adult populations. For more than a decade, she has worked to develop and test a metaintervention called “Just Do You,” which aims to keep adolescents with mental illness in ongoing treatment. In the upcoming issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, Dr. Munson and colleagues report on a randomized exploratory trial funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Munson will also be presenting the results on Wednesday, October 27, at “Peer Supports, Coaching, and Group Interventions to Improve Treatment Engagement and Academic Persistence and Functioning of Transitional-Age Youth,” which will be held during the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
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| Real Conversations! Spotify Playlist
The third installment of this semester’s Real Conversations!, Holistic Wellness: Honoring Principles of Indigenous Healing for BIPOC identifying students takes place on Friday, November 5, at 4:00 PM. While there’s still time to register, check out the last session’s Spotify playlist curated by our Peer Advocates, Gerri Connaught and Aadya Bhatia.
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(Not So) Difficult Dialogues: Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation?
Thursday, October 28 · 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
The [Not So] Difficult Dialogues series is a space for students to address current issues connected to social identities while building skills for engaging in effective conversation. This conversation will explore how to respectfully engage in cultures that are not our own.
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| NYU BeTogether Community Gathering for Students
Friday, November 5 · 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Are you committed to inclusive innovation and transformation? Join the NYU BeTogether Community Gathering for Students to learn more and how you can get involved.
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QTPOC Gatherings: Remembering and Reconnecting
Wednesday, November 10 · 4:30 PM - 5:45 PM
Join fellow Queer & Trans People of Color (QTPOC) for an evening with SHADES (NYU’s student group for QTPOC and allies), the LGBTQ+ Center, and CMEP. Robert Taylor Jr., Program Administrator from Global Spiritual Life, will be leading mindfulness activities to ground students.
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ONE ZONE Trainings
One Zone trainings are interactive group sessions open to NYU students, faculty, and staff. These trainings, offered by NYU Center for Multicultural Education and Programs (CMEP), provide resources and tools that explore concepts related to identity, diversity, and community. Check out the upcoming sessions and expand your horizons!
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First row (left to right): Richeleen Dashield (Director, Office of DEI), Liz Galimore (Interim Administrative Aide), Sharifa Amin (Social Work Intern)
Second row (left to right): Aadya Bhatia (Silver Climate Peer Advocate), Gerri Connaught (Silver Climate Peer Advocate), Lilia Vidal (Social Work Intern)
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| Share Antiracism Resources!If you have antiracism resources you would like to share for the next edition of the newsletter we have limited spots available. Please email silver.DEI@nyu.edu with the subject "DEI Newsletter Submission."
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