This post has been archived. Information below may be out of date and/or relate to a past event.
Over the last year, many of you have spoken with IDEAS Center and other faculty and staff about various bias-related incidents, including unconscious bias, stereotypes, and microaggressions on campus and around Meadville. While we all know these incidents are happening, it’s hard to imagine and see their full impact when the stories are spread out and separate. To work against that, and to continue to make change on campus, the IDEAS Center will be hosting an event where we can gather these stories, confront them, and have a critical conversation on how our campus community can begin to change.
December 3-7 we will host a gallery walk at the IDEAS Center. During this event, the campus community will have an opportunity to read examples of what students of color and other marginalized identities have experienced on campus. Experiences will be respectfully displayed on walls for folks to read and respond to on their own time. All submissions will be typed and names/identifying information will be removed in order to maintain the anonymity of the students so that students can be honest without fear or concerns about those inherent power dynamics.
During the spring semester, these experiences will be shared with faculty and staff as part of an 8-week Ally Circle to provide them insight into the daily experiences of Allegheny students. Your experiences will help to create a better understanding of challenges faced by students directly from student report. Greater understanding will provide depth and meaning to the inclusion work that has already begun on this campus.
We are emailing you because we want to ensure that all student voices are heard. We wanted to invite you and any other students you may know to consider sharing your stories for this event. We recognize this a big ask, as sharing these stories can often be re-traumatizing and painful. However, we also know it can be liberating and freeing to speak truth to power. And so we wanted to at least provide that opportunity. All stories will be anonymous. You can submit your experiences via this link no later than December 1.
Please feel free to contact Angelica (aperezjohnston@allegheny.edu) or justin (jadkins@allegheny.edu) in the IDEAS Center with questions or concerns.