As a part of Campus Inclusion Week, Dickinson students had the opportunity to learn more about inclusion and campus inclusion resources by participating in training opportunities hosted by several campus organizations.

Many organizations participated in this event, such as the Bias Education and Response Team (BERT), the Center for Global Studies and Engagement (CGSE), LGBTQ services, the Office of Disability Services (ODS) and Learning Skills, and the Popel Shaw Center for Race and Ethnicity. According to the Dickinson website, the goal of the event was to inspire the Dickinson community to get involved in making everyone feel included on campus.

Each day had a different theme relating to inclusivity. Monday’s topic was, “Bias Awareness and Allyship,” which was sponsored by BERT, CGSE and PSC.  Representatives sat on Britton plaza, and spoke about how bias can affect campus inclusion.

Tuesday was “Celebrate Atypicality and Neurodiversity” day, sponsored by ODS. “[ODS’s] objective for the event [was not only] to…demonstrate how many students with disabilities (approximately 17%) are registered with the office, but also to normalize talking about disabilities,” stated Marni Jones, director of learning skills at ODS.

According to Kadijah Sutton ’17, “[Tuesday was] about being seen, heard and supported no matter what your quirks might be.” There were interactive activity stations that students could participate in that illustrated what it might be like to live with a disability.

Wednesday’s topic was, “What are your gender pronouns day?” sponsored by LGBTQ services. Among other things, the LGBTQ services gave away pins that identify one’s gender pronouns.

“[We] want to spread information about how to use gender pronouns and to normalize talking about them,” said Erica Gordan, Director of LGBTQ services.

Thursday, the final day, was entitled, “Student Advocacy and Social Justice.”  According to John Adeniran, marketing advisor for the Popel Shaw Center, “Student Advocacy and Social Justice day is about promoting the missions of different social justice initiatives and organizations distributed throughout the campus. The goal is to broaden cultural and social outreach through an intersectional lens, which is achieved by making people more aware about the various structures (i.e., power and privilege) that condition how we navigate spaces. Many groups came today such as Spectrum, the Feminist Collective, the Popel Shaw Center, W.I.N.D and the Student Liberation Movement. We were able to distribute a lot of informational material, including the student organization missions and how students can be a part of them.”

The events took place from Monday, Sept. 26, to Thursday, Sept. 29, from 12 to 4:30 p.m. on Britton plaza.