Welcome to the Inclusive Excellence News, in this edition we share information about Hispanic Heritage Month, events across campus like the State of Inclusive Excellence, and professional development sessions that are available both on and off campus. If you would like to have any events of yours shared in the future, please email the Office of Inclusive Excellence at ie@bsu.edu.
National Hispanic Heritage Month September 15th to October 15th
National Hispanic Heritage Month, also known as Latino Heritage Month, is an annual celebration in the United States that recognizes and honors the contributions, culture, and history of Hispanic and Latino Americans. The month-long celebration runs from September 15 to October 15 each year. The timing is significant as it encompasses the independence anniversaries of several Latin American countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, on September 15, as well as Mexico’s Independence Day on September 16 and Chile’s on September 18.
The observance was initially established as a week-long celebration by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 and was later expanded to a month-long period by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. It aims to shed light on the diverse cultures, traditions, and histories of people with roots in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and Spain.
During Hispanic Heritage Month, various events and activities take place across the country, such as cultural festivals, art exhibits, music performances, educational programs, and community gatherings. Schools, universities, museums, and other institutions often organize events to raise awareness about the rich heritage and significant contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans in areas like literature, art, science, politics, and sports.
The celebration serves as an opportunity for people of all backgrounds to learn more about the diverse Hispanic and Latino cultures and to foster a greater understanding and appreciation for the contributions of these communities to the broader American tapestry. It also emphasizes the importance of diversity and inclusion in the United States.
Find more information on our inclusive calendar.
Campus and Community Events
BSA Unity Pageant Call Out Days
Wednesday, September 4 & Friday, September 6
6:30-7:30 pm
Multicultural Center Multipurpose Room
Do you have what it takes…to be our next MS./MR. UNITY? BSA’s 57th Annual Unity Pageant will be hosted in January of 2025. If you are interested in being a contestant, please come out to our informational!
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Ball State Day of Action
Friday, September 6, 2024
Community Projects
More than a quarter of Delaware County households live one crisis away from falling into poverty. These working families (or ALICE – Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed) face daily obstacles hindering their health, education, and financial stability.
Your participation in one of the following activities will support United Way’s commitment to improve the lives and futures of ALICE families across our community.
Find more information here. https://www.bsu.edu/web/unitedway/day-of-action
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Big Astronomy
Friday, September 13, Saturday, September 14, Friday, September 20, and Saturday, September 21
5:00-6:00 pm
Charles W. Brown Planetarium
It takes many people with diverse backgrounds, talents, and skills to run observatories. Journey to three world-class observatories in Chile’s rugged Andes Mountains and arid Atacama Desert— remote, extreme regions that happen to have the perfect conditions for astronomical research. Along the way, meet an inspiring cast of astronomers, engineers, technicians, and support staff who keep these mega-machines running and learn about their work.
Suitable for all ages 10+, all ages are welcome. Free event. No food, drinks, gum, or candy are permitted in the planetarium.
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National Day of Encouragement
Thursday, September 12
10:00-2:00
Atrium outside the bookstore
Stop by the Atrium (right outside the bookstore) to get some encouraging words as you go through the week. And take a minute to pick up a motivational vinyl sticker and make your own friendship bracelet to keep or give to a friend.
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State of Inclusive Excellence Address
Monday, September 16
2:00 pm
Student Center Ball Room
Join Associate Vice President for Inclusive Excellence Dr. Rashida Willard and other campus partners for Ball State’s second annual State of Inclusive Excellence Address. Celebrate all of the accomplishments, advancements, and achievements toward inclusive excellence at Ball State University.
Address to begin Monday, September 16, 2024 at 2:00 pm in the Student Center Ballroom. Light refreshments will be served.
Please contact the Office of Inclusive Excellence at ie@bsu.edu if we need to make any accommodations for you to attend and participate fully.
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Student Success Summit
Tuesday, September 17 and Wednesday, September 18
10:00-4:00 and 8:00-12:00
Emens Auditorium and the Student Center
Join us for the 2024 Student Success Summit on Sept. 17-18 at Emens Auditorium and the Student Center. This free event is an opportunity for campus partners to come together and discuss strategies to foster student success and well-being.
Helping students achieve academic success in today’s technologically advance world requires an understanding and utilization of new and different tools, techniques, and technologies. As we struggle to stay up to date with new and exciting innovations, we must also consider how these new innovations impact curriculum and pedagogical strategies. Thus, this year’s summit will focus on the tools, techniques, and technologies we leverage to support student success.
During the summit, you can expect to learn more about how colleagues are using innovative tools, techniques, and technologies that have led to curricular innovations, pedagogical enhancements, and engaged learning resulting in greater student outcomes.
By the end of the summit, participants will be able to:
- Discover innovative approaches to creating effective curricular and co-curricular designs that leverage tools, techniques, and technologies that connect with students’ unique strengths and interests.
- Be able to identify and implement at least one new strategy to facilitate student success.
- Have ideas about how to lead from where they are to help address systemic and structural barriers to student success and equity.
- Have a broader understanding of Ball State University’s student success efforts.
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Reel Inclusion: Mother, Father, Deaf
Wednesday, September 25
5:30-7:00 pm
Multicultural Center Multipurpose Room
Children of Deaf Adults, known as CODA, are caught in the middle; between the deaf and the hearing, between isolation and community, and between childhood and adulthood. Through the stories of three CODAs, this film explores the daily reality of able-hearing children born to deaf parents. Discover how their unique upbringings can be considered both a burden and an opportunity, and how it has shaped who they are today.
Directed by Garry Keane, Mother, Father, Deaf offers a previously unseen portrayal of contemporary reality for Deaf families. Their stories, while deeply personal, mirror the experiences of CODAs around the world. Attend this screening as part of Deaf Awareness Month. The film is 52 minutes long.
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Dr. Eric Jackson presents Black Studies, Health Disparities, and AI
Thursday, September 26
5:00-6:00 pm
Student Center Ballroom
As a Professor of History, and Associate Dean, in the College of Arts and Sciences, at Northern Kentucky University, with almost thirty years of academic experience at the university level, Dr. Eric R. Jackson has taught numerous classes in the fields of American and African American History, Race Relations and Peace Studies. Dr. Jackson has also published a wide array of books, books reviews, articles, etc. in many local, regional, national, and international journals, such as the Journal of African American History, the Journal of Negro Education, Ohio History, the International Journal of World Peace, and the Journal of Pan African Studies.)
With over fifty publications, Dr. Jackson recently completed an online book/website on African Americans in Cincinnati (Oxford University Press, 2015 http://www.oxfordaasc.com/public/features/archive/0216/index.jsp), co-authored a book titled Cincinnati’s Underground Railroad (Arcadia Publishing, Inc. 2014) and co-authored another book titled Unique Challenges in Urban Schools: The Involvement of African American Parents (Rowman and Littlefield, May 2015), Let Freedom Ring for Everyone: (Cognella, 2020), and Introduction to Black Studies (University of Kentucky Press, 2023; 2023 Thomas D. Clark Medallion Award).
Additionally, he is working on a new book titled Full of Faith – Full of Hope: The History and Legacy of the Underground Railroad in Kentucky (University of Kentucky Press, 2024). He also served as Interim Editor and the Book Review Editor of the Journal of Pan African Studies. In 2017 he was awarded the “Second International World Civility Award” from I-Change Nations. Dr. Jackson also is a member of the Boone County Public Library Board of Trustees, the Kentucky Humanities, Cincinnati Preservation Association, Friends of Music Hall Board (Cincinnati, Ohio).
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Professional Development Opportunities
On Campus
Inclusive Excellence 101
Tuesday, September 5
1:00-2:30 pm
Via Zoom, register via the Minicourse System
Welcome to Inclusive Excellence 101, an introduction to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging. Participants will be introduced to the Inclusive Excellence National framework shared by the American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U). Ball State’s Inclusive Excellence Strategic Plan will be discussed, and tools to improve inclusive excellence within your own educational space will be provided. This is open to all Ball State Faculty, Staff, and Graduate students.
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Mitigating Microaggressions
Wednesday, September 18
9:00-10:30 am
Multicultural Center, register via the Minicourse System
This professional development course introduces the concepts of bias and microaggressions. This course discusses levels of social interaction to understand how our own biases can impact various members of the campus community. During this session, participants will critically self-reflect on their own biases, discuss cycles of socialization and liberation, and learn about various types of microaggressions. Participants will develop skills to recognize and mitigate the harmful effects of microaggressions.
This is open to all Ball State Faculty, Staff, and Graduate students.
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In the Community
Shafer Leadership Academy- Cultivating a Trans-Inclusive Workplace
Thursday, September 5
8:00-9:30 am
Online
Trans people are increasingly visible yet face significant challenges in almost all aspects of life, including the workplace. 63% of trans people report being discriminated against because of their gender identity, while 49% report being asked unnecessary or invasive questions at work (KFF / The Washington Post).
Through education, compassion, and intentionality, you can build a more inclusive and equitable workplace for trans people. In this session, you’ll learn a variety of practices you can implement to help trans coworkers, customers, and other stakeholders feel like they belong in your organization.
Learning Objectives
- Learn about the rich complexity of gender identities, including terms such as transgender, nonbinary, genderqueer, genderfluid, and agender
- Identify challenges that trans people experience in the workplace
- Discover interventions and trans-inclusive language practices that can help create a more equitable and inclusive experience for trans people in the workplace
Eva Grouling Snider is an Instructional Consultant at Ball State University, where she supports faculty in their teaching. She is a certified Gallup Global Strengths Coach and is passionate about helping people see the best in themselves.
Cost: Free for SLA Members. $50 non-member. $30 nonprofits
Registration Link: https://shaferleadershipacademy.wufoo.com/forms/p1kiupvn189nd5h/
Individuals who are either unemployed or connected with an employer who is unable to pay can request scholarships for any of our programs.
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Shafer Leadership Academy- Examining Biases and Stereotypes
Tuesday, September 10
11:30 am-1:00 pm
Innovation Connector: 1208 W White River Blvd, Muncie, IN 47303
Stereotypes and biases affect decisions, communication, behavior and determine how we respond to family, friends, co-workers, and the strangers that we interact with on a day-to-day basis. Based on our experiences, real or perceived, the brain creates categories and associations to help us process & organize information that makes sense of the world around us. These associations are influenced by social and cultural factors and are exhibited through behavior and thoughts.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify and address our own biases and stereotypes.
- Recognize the impact our belief system & actions have on others while addressing ways to actively minimize decision-making that contributes to disparities in all kinds of systems.
- Learn to identify and interrupt words, behaviors and attitudes that are insensitive and actively discount and marginalized individuals from different social groups.
- Practice strategies that enhance empathy and understanding in our culturally diverse workplaces.
- Create a plan to shift from awareness towards action and stability.
Dorica Watson is a Social Worker, certified Life Coach, Community Advocate, Trainer, and Director of Community Engagement at Open Door Health Services. She is a Muncie native who started her higher education journey as a non-traditional student at the local community college. Dorica went on to earn many degrees and professional certifications that have led her to the national stage as a collaborator, speaker, trainer and coach. Dorica is a change agent who brings a unique “relationship- first” perspective to each and every encounter. Her background in community engagement, mindfulness, personal & professional empowerment and poverty alleviation align with her moto “to not only take up space but to create it for other people”.
Dorica has been honored with serval awards including, Ivy Tech Alumnus of the Year, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Team Community Award, NASW Region 5 Social Worker of the Year and was the 2019 ATHENA International Leadership Awardee. Dorica is passionate about people having served on many youth and/or family focused boards and committees in Delaware County. She is a member of The Church of the Living God, Co-Chair for Juneteenth Muncie and past Board President of Women In Business Unlimited, WIBU. Additionally, Dorica serves an advisory board member for the Ball State University Social Work Department, Director of Representation Matters, a literacy advocate and a dedicated youth mentor. She is a mother, Gorgeous Grandmother (GG) and wife, three separate but powerful titles that encourage her to be the best version of herself daily.
Cost: Free for SLA Members. $80 non-member. $60 nonprofits.
Registration Link: https://shaferleadershipacademy.wufoo.com/forms/p1m12efu13cwne2/
Individuals who are either unemployed or connected with an employer who is unable to pay can request scholarships for any of our programs.