Diversity initiatives
Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DDEI)
DDEI conducted 14 workshops this quarter with a total of 262 participants for all events combined. Following the 2016 presidential elections, DEI held a debrief session for faculty and staff titled “Real Talk: A Semester in Review” that allowed employees to discuss all of the things they were working through as individuals and concerns that had been addressed by students. DEI held a training workshop for search committee members across campus, LGBTQ 101 information sessions and a session on how to turn our political passion into action, a workshop that helped participants structure how to lobby their elected officials around issues of interest. Cultural Competency workshops continue to be ongoing each semester.
Multicultural Resource Center (MRC)
While feedback and figures from some events of the week are not finalized, the MRC has a few special notes to share. Here’s a listing of a few achievements to celebrate:
• Registration for both the MLK Day of Service and Bearcats March to D.C. Trip were filled two days after registrations opened.
• Approximately 100 students signed up for 43 volunteer spots for the MLK Day of Service 2017. All students agreed to arrive early for spring semester in order to attend!
• The MLK Week of Welcome events were covered in each of the first three issues of Pipe Dream.
• The MLK Week of Welcome was spotlighted on the binghamton.edu homepage and Inside.
• 125 individuals signed up to fill 50 spots for the Bearcats March 2 D.C. trip. Some students with interest did not RSVP because the waitlist for trip was already extensive. At least 30 students, staff and alumni went to D.C. on their own. We attended the Women’s March on Washington the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. On Sunday, we visited the MLK Monument, Lincoln Monument and the new Museum for African American History.
• During this period, more than 1,000 visits were made to MRC event sign-up forms online.
• More than 400 campus community members participated in our Building the Binghamton Dream event helping to kick off a collaborative and inclusive spring semester.
• We filled five Dream Walls; recording more than 500 Post-it Notes on our boards from campus community members.
MRC Translation and Interpretation Program (MRC TIP)
• The MRC and Binghamton University Dining Services hosted the second annual Lunar New Year Celebration on Jan. 31 at the Hinman Dining Hall, serving various Asian cuisines from Vietnam, Mongolia, Korea, Japan and China.
• The MRC TIP held the first student training session of the semester Feb. 10. Doris Cheung, case manager from the Dean of Students Office, presented, leading a discussion on cultural competency associated with translation and interpretation practice. TIP student volunteers currently speak eight different languages: Korean, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, French, Turkish and Spanish.
• On Feb. 16, the MRC TIP held a training for five new faculty and staff volunteers who joined the program last semester. As of Feb. 20, there are 22 faculty and staff volunteers who speak 12 different languages, including Spanish, Korean, Arabic, Chinese, Turkish, Italian, Polish, Hebrew, Russian, Hindi, Japanese and Portuguese.
• The MRC TIP coordinator has met with all language departments at Binghamton University, seeking their support in promoting the program among students with strong language proficiencies.
The Q Center
• The LGBTQ Center became the Q Center. Education, Advocacy and Resources for Gender and Sexual Diversity. Our undergraduate graphics intern, Shemar Middleton, designed a new office logo.
• The Q Center participated in the first of MLK Welcome Week by co- hosting a screening of Brother Outsider, the Bayard Rustin Story, with the student group SHADES.
• The Q Center is sponsoring two peer-led student discussion groups: Men of Color Discussion group and Trans/Gender Non-Conforming Discussion group. We are excited by the possibility of hosting a third group for students wishing to talk about continuing their religious practice as out LGBTQ people.
• The Q Center sponsored a webinar produced by Paper Clip Communications titled “Pronouns Matter.” Over 40 faculty and staff attended the two-hour program that explored ways campuses can become more inclusive of transgender and gender non-conforming people by using appropriate pronouns and chosen names. The workshop also discussed changing or updating policies and procedures specific to different campuses.