The Voices of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

JULIANA MOSLEY-WILLIAMS, PHD, CDP

“For the past year, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and the DEI Committee has worked to implement institution-wide training grounded in the University’s adopted DEI framework of cultural humility. Training was offered for the board of trustees, administration, faculty, and staff. Students receive training annually during New Student Orientation, which I have been doing since 2019. The trainings and presentations offered through the DEI Speaks! and DEI Educates! series sought to illuminate differences in cultural perspectives, bridge areas of interconnectedness, foster appreciation and respect, for the purposes of making members of our community feel included. It is my hope that our interactions with each other and the patients, clients and students we serve are intentionally relational based on the tenets of cultural humility, where belonging is the desired outcome.”

DEI Trainings

TERRELL STRAYHORN, PHD

DEI SPEAKS! SENSE OF BELONGING

Dr. Strayhorn is one of the most prolific and influential contemporary scholars in the fields of higher education, psychology, and the academic study of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. His training in early January centered around the Sense of Belonging.

Belonging, with peers, in the classroom, or on campus, is a critical dimension of success at college. It can affect a student’s degree of academic adjustment, achievement, aspirations, or even whether a student stays in school. Dr. Strayhorn explored how belonging differs based on students’ social identities, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, or the conditions they encounter on campus. In education, there are particular needs that must be met in order to feel fulfilled and connected to our work, including the experience of mattering, having your feelings cared about, accepted, respected and valued.

Stan Kimer

DEI EDUCATES! LGBTQ+ DIVERSITY—SAFE ZONE TRAINING

Kimer is a nationally recognized consul tant and speaker on all areas of workplace diversity with a deep expertise in LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) diversity. His training, offered in February and April, focused on being an ally and supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

Those who attended the training received a “Safe Zone/Safe Space” emblem to display to show their outward support for LGBTQ+ people. The training taught participants basic terms and definitions, history of LGBTQ+ culture and civil rights, issues often faced by LGBTQ+ people, the complex and ongoing process of coming out, how to best support people coming out to you and respectful communications with LGBTQ+ people.

DEE SINGLEY, PHD

DEI SPEAKS! REFRAMING DISABILITY; UNDERSTANDING ACCESS AND SUCCESS THROUGH THE LENS OF THE UNSEEN Dr. Singley currently serves as the director of Disability and Access at Ursinus College and has been working in disability and access services in multiple liberal arts colleges since 2006. She uses the social model lens of understanding disability and access to inform communities about those aspects. While much of Dr. Singley’s work focuses on facilitating accommodations for students under the American with Disabilities Amendments Act, they work strategically and intentionally to provide resources, education, and support for all stakeholders to think proactively about infusing equitable practices and design across the college environment.

Their training engaged participants in a conversation about the use of the social model of disability to dismantle barriers that exist for students in higher education, particularly barriers that impede access and success of students with invisible or non-apparent disability related impacts, as well as equitable strategies and supports to use in daily practices.