Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
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| Dear Community,
This month's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion newsletter offers guidance to navigate the anti-woke resistance in a post-COVID environment. Strategic diversity leadership expert Dr. Damon Williams acknowledges several timely themes that cut across all sectors that I wanted to share with you:
The anti-DEI movement resulting in political divides, book bans, and supreme court rulings;
The mental health crisis that disparately impacts Black, Latinx, LGBTQ+, and economically vulnerable communities;
The rise in anti-Semitic, anti-AAPI, anti-LGBTQ+, and racialized community violence and hate.
Social workers stand in the gap seeking to dismantle oppressive systems and uplift individuals and families. As a community of students, faculty, and staff, our efforts reconnect people by creating space to heal, restore, and strategize for transformative paradigm shifts in our communities. We must reflect on how social workers can lead and operationalize antiracism, truth, healing, repair, and equity. We must continue to build capacity from where we are today, operating in community with others.
With gratitude and appreciation,
Dr. Richeleen Dashield, Ed.D
Director, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
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| AccountabilityHow are we holding each other accountable for antiracism?
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Anti-Black Racism: Continued Reflection For Practitioners And EducatorsTuesday November 8, 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Cost: $30
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Silver’s Office of Global Inclusion is hosting child and family specialist Christene Tucker, LMSW to present at the virtual seminar, Anti-Black Racism: Continued Reflection For Practitioners And Educators. The program’s goal is to have participants understand the psychological impact of global anti-black racism in order to validate the lived experiences of their clients from POAD (People of African Descent) and BIPOC communities. This training is eligible for 2.5 CE credits.
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| Supreme Court Hearing Cases on Affirmative Action
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| In the upcoming convening of the US Supreme Court, Justices will hear oral arguments in the cases against Harvard University and University of North Carolina concerning affirmative action considerations in their admissions processes. While the media coverage presents several different aspects of this topic, the University of South Florida created a list of Ten Myths About Affirmative Action to combat misinformation that has long followed this issue.
The American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity also provides a comprehensive overview of the history of affirmative action in America from the first legislative act in 1961 through today.
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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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Making Antiracism Institutional at SilverOffice of Career & Professional Development
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Sooah Kwak, Associate Director; Grace DeFino, Administrative Aide; Angelica Rivera, Intern
What is something the Silver community should know about The Office of CPD?
Something the Silver community should know about the Office of Career & Professional Development is that social justice guides our work in three main ways:
1. We strive to support and center marginalized communities impacted disproportionately by rigid standards of “professionalism.” We acknowledge the oppressive systems in the world of work; avoid biased guidance and terminology; offer self-advocacy strategies throughout our content; and engage students through a strengths-based approach for students to feel affirmed, valued, and centered. We also implement programs and initiatives specifically to support various identity-based communities and foster student spaces and connections to their communities through the Alum-in-Residence program, workshops on the reframing impostor phenomenon, our Silver Connect series, and more.
2. We are working to make career preparation more accessible.We have virtual tools to provide guides, templates, and step-by-step instructions on various topics to make career preparation feel achievable and as easy as possible for students to navigate. We are also expanding our tools to include guides for specific populations traditionally denied access to career-related knowledge and skills. For example, we are developing our licensing guide to include how students impacted by the justice system can navigate the application process for their social work license.
3. We seek to reframe professional development by expanding the scope of what skills and competencies for the professional preparation of a social worker. We support social justice and anti-racist professional development practices that develop skills in self-awareness and critical reflection, promote social change at all levels of social work practice and advocate for self and others. We use this framework to inform our offerings to students.
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| | How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong
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The Antiracism Seminar for Staff Working Group is pleased to launch a community book read, guided discussions, and author talk centered on Mia Birdsong’s How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship and Community. In the book, Birdsong predicates that what divides us is not simply the persistent injustices based on race, class, gender, values, and beliefs but also our refusal to acknowledge our interconnectedness and need to join together. Read the book now and stay tuned for information on related events.
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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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Intro to NYU LGBTQ+Friday, November 18, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
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Intro to NYU LGBTQ+ is an interactive workshop that teaches LGBTQ+ terms, concepts, and strategies that allow allies to support LGBTQ+ communities. Resources are available for continued learning and reference.
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NYU Votes is a university-wide initiative meant to assist all eligible in the NYU community to cast their votes in the Midterm Elections on November 8. This program has resources to check voter registration status, help first-time voters register, and advise out-of-state students on absentee and mail-in voting. If you are interested in volunteering with NYU Votes, contact nyuvotes@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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ACLU and Abortion After Roe
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After this summer’s crushing U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn federal protections for abortion, the ACLU and community partners are advocating for legislative measures to protect reproductive rights in battleground state constitutions. In the Fall 2022 issue of ACLU magazine, read about the ballot initiative launched in Michigan to enshrine reproductive freedom in the state.
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| Shared Differences: A Conversation About Antisemitism and Islamophobia
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The National Conflict Resolution Center (NCRC) hosts A Path Forward National Dialogue Series, featuring a panel discussion on “Shared Differences: A Conversation About Antisemitism and Islamophobia in the U.S.” The panelists included Imam Abdullah Antepli, Muslim associate professor of the Practice of Interfaith Relations at Duke University, and Bret Stephens, a Jewish New York Times op-ed columnist. They discussed the history of hate, the alarming rise in ethnic- and faith-based attacks, conspiracy theories, and how they confronted their biases about the other’s group by practicing empathy and engaged learning.
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President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders Meeting During the Commission’s inaugural meeting in February of this year, the members formed six subcommittees to develop detailed recommendations to promote equity, justice, and opportunity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities for President Biden. The Commission focused on the themes of “Belonging, Inclusion, Anti-Asian Hate, and Anti-Discrimination,” “Data Disaggregation,” “Language Access,” “Economic Equity,” “Health Equity,” and “Immigration and Citizenship Status.”
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Filipino American History Month
October marked Filipino American History Month. In recognition of the contributions of Filipinos to the country’s history and institutions, President Biden acknowledged the community in a formal letter from the White House last year. The month was officially named in 2009 when former President Obama signed the resolution into law.
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| INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine
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First row (left to right): Richeleen Dashield (Director, Office of DEI), Liz Galimore (Administrative Aide II), Aysha Aliyar (Social Work Intern)
Second row (left to right): Gerri Connaught (Silver Climate Peer Advocate), Fatima Mabrouk (Silver Climate Peer Advocate)
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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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