Overhaul of DEI Training for Residence Hall Staff

Overhaul of DEI training for residence hall staff – Residence Education and Housing Services (REHS), in its aspirations of becoming an antiracist, anti-oppression department in Student Life & Engagement (SLE), continues to offer workshops, dialogue series (modeled after the MSU Dialogues program) and educational resources on white supremacy, privilege and oppression, antiracism, identity and the issues of the times (in the context of a global pandemic)

ACTION ITEMS: 

• Workshops and Training Opportunities:
• Campus Climate Workshop: REHS Implications – Task Force for Racial Equity – by Jonglim Han and team
• Anti-Racism Foundations and Developing an Action Agenda – by Deborah Johnson and Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion team
• Characteristic of White Supremacy (based on Tema Okum’s article) – by Kelsey Skinner and Eduardo Olivo
• CAPSTONE – Two (2) White Supremacy Workshop – by REHS Core Leadership Team
  1. REHS Core Leadership Team specific strategies:
  2. D2l Page as a repository
  3. Curriculum: “me and white supremacy” (Layla Saad) chapters and reflection prompts
  4. 6 sessions and 1 capstone experience
• REHS Dialogues on race and racism, using an intersectional lens
• Implicit Bias, Microaggressions and P.A.L.S.
• New DEI training framework for Resident Assistants (RAs) and Intercultural Aides (ICAs) (R.I.D.E.), in collaboration with the MRULE-ICA program – RAs and ICAs engage in DEI dialogues monthly under the umbrella of the R.I.D.E. program (Reboot, Interrogate, Dream and Enact) – these training series for ICAs and RAs started in September 2021 – this is a dialogue based, peer educational model aimed at expanding DEI capacity among all RAs through the interrogation and exploration of institutional oppression, whiteness, antiracism action plans and other manifestations of oppression through a critical race theory lens. Topics (implemented and planned using an intersectional lens, since September 2021) include:
  1. Intersectional and inclusive Black Excellence
  2. Antisemitism and Islamophobia
  3. Gender Inclusive Language Practices
  4. Understanding the Moment and Matching the Urgency
• New DEI training framework for MSU Tour Guides, Service Center Representatives and Housing Assignments Office full-time staff members on responding to bias incidents and microaggressions – starting in March 2022
• New DEI training sessions for Campus Crew and Facilities on responding to bias incidents and microaggressions – planned for March 2022
• Identity-Conscious Supervision, Mentoring and Coaching training for Housing Assignments Office staff members – planned for Spring 2022
• New 2022 Student DEI Activism and Inclusive Leadership Conference – this learning initiative will involve REHS working in collaboration with minoritized student leaders in creating a space for best practices on student leadership and activism will be featured – April 2022

Additional REHS Educational Resources on DEI commemorations (all supervisors and managers are required to have debriefing conversations with their supervisees on each one of these topics):

• Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month
• Native American History Month
• Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Day of Remembrance
• Gender Inclusive Practices
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Lunar New Year and APIDA Violence and Racism
• Holocaust International Day
• Black Activism: The Civil Rights Movement Lead by Black and Queer Communities 

(View REHS DEI Dashboard)