RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington State University Tri-Cities will host a series of “Community Classroom” learning opportunities on the topics of race, equity and engaged citizenship beginning Sept. 30.

The series will feature both presentations and opportunities for discussion. The events are free and open to the public and will be presented online via Zoom.

“We believe that together, we can become a community that is more empowered to lead anti-racist efforts,” said Kristine Cody, coordinator for the ���سԹ� MOSAIC Center for Student Inclusion. “We commit to doing this by investing in and establishing a shared understanding of who we have been and who we want to be around race relations in our community.”

The Community Classroom presentations and discussions will focus on the following topics:

History of Civil Rights in the Tri-Cities – Past and Present

4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, via Zoom

Robert Bauman and Robert Franklin, both history faculty at ���سԹ�, will give a presentation on the history of African-American activism in the Tri-Cities from the 1940s-1970s. The presentation will highlight efforts to end racial segregation in the Tri-Cities, including civil rights marches in Kennewick and Pasco in the 1960s and 1970s. The presentation is based on material from their forthcoming book, “Echoes of Exclusion and Resistance: Voices from the Hanford Region,” which will be published by WSU Press in November.

This event will also welcome the following panelists: Reka Robinson, life coach and 99.1 radio personality; Daishaundra Loving-Hearne, co-CEO of the Urban Poets Society and organizer with the Black Lives Matter Coalition: Tri-Cities; and Naima Chambers-Smith, CEO of the Tri-Cities Diversity and Inclusion Council. They will talk about the advocacy efforts they are spearheading within the regional community around racial justice and how others can be a part of supporting the work.

Digital Dissensus: Discovering Truth in an Era of Misinformation

4 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, via Zoom

Are conspiracy theorists and anti-maskers anti-fact? Or is there a deeper dynamic at play? Mike Caulfield, director of blended and networked learning at WSU Vancouver and nationally recognized digital literacy expert, will discuss the roots of current “digital dissensus” and explain how approaches to education may be making the problem worse. How do we design education for a world where information is plentiful, and attention is the scarcity? How do we encourage analysis and engagement in our students without having those same impulses gamed by bad actors? What epistemic stances and heuristics serve the public in a world where expertise is niche and very little is directly verifiable, and where facts are atomized, separated from analysis, and reassembled in bizarre and dangerous ways?

Dismantling Racism: The Game of Change

11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, via Zoom

This workshop/discussion will offer individuals the language and practices to shift view points from a majority group’s perspective to that of the marginalized group or groups. Discussions will be led by Thabiti Lewis, professor of English and interim associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at WSU Vancouver, and Dr. Marie Theard, director of neuroanesthesia in the department of anesthesiology at Oregon Health and Science University.

Strategies will be provided to faculty on identifying issues of bias and structural racism. Ways will be identified to reduce the systemic impact on resident and other faculty evaluations. Utilizing principles presented in work by Dr. Robert R. Gaiser on teaching professionalism focusing on subjects like reflective thinking, metacognition, and transformational learning in a small group interactive environment, individuals will learn to translate practices that are applicable to things like sports culture and daily life. Through the lens of medical education and popular culture, this presentation will explore how to address issues in academia and society.

The ���سԹ� Community Classroom events are presented by the MOSAIC Center for Student Inclusion, Office of Academic Affairs, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee at ���سԹ�.

For more information, visit .

 

Media contacts:

Kristine Cody, ���سԹ� coordinator for MOSAIC Center for Student Inclusion, 509-372-7600, kristine.cody@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� assistant director of marketing and communication, 619-403-3617, maegan_murray@wsu.edu

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. –  celebrated the grand opening of the MOSAIC Center for Student Inclusion this month, welcoming students, faculty, staff and community members.

Like the pieces that comprise its name, MOSAIC, is a home to student resources to enhance equity and inclusion, a place to discover more about various cultures and a central location for students to dialogue and learn about current social issues.

“The MOSAIC Center is a success story of student advocacy and demonstrates the power of effective partnerships between students, faculty and staff who are all working toward a common goal of creating a more inclusive campus,” student affairs coordinator Kristine Cody said.

First introduced by Israa Alshaikhli, former president of the Associated Students of ���سԹ�, the project is coming to fruition under the leadership of Savanna Navarro Kresse, current vice president for ASWSUTC. The students worked directly with university administration, faculty and staff to start conversations on the importance of having a center focused on equity and inclusion, what that center could look like and how they could make the center a reality.

Last spring, ���سԹ� held a soft opening for the center, welcoming student input on what they would like to see in the center. Students, staff and faculty have since taken those comments to open a facility designed to be an open place for all. Based on this feedback, students will have access to workshops on social issues, a library on equity and diversity topics, book clubs, documentary showings on diversity-related topics, advocacy opportunities, celebrations and more.

“This is a place where no matter your race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, sexuality, or gender, you are fully welcomed,” Kresse said. “A place where we can feel comfortable conversing in our first language. A place where we can wear our traditional cultural attire without being stereotyped. This center is open to all students as a way to learn and grow together – a place where we can all authentically be ourselves.”

The grand opening featured opening remarks from Kresse; ���سԹ� Chancellor Sandra Haynes; Jill Creighton, WSU dean of students and associate vice president for campus life; and Jaime Nolan, WSU associate vice president for community, equity and inclusive excellence.

Haynes said she is proud of the way students worked together with the faculty, staff and administration to make their center a reality.

���سԹ� is the most diverse campus in the Washington State University system. The student population comprises more than 40 percent minority students and more than 40 percent of students are the first in their families to attend college.

“This is a space that will be representative of our student population and our ���سԹ� community long into the future,” Haynes said.

 

Media contacts:

Kristine Cody, ���سԹ� student affairs coordinator, 509-372-7600, kristine.cody@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� public relations specialist, 509-372-7333, maegan_murray@wsu.edu