Educational Psychology Student Diversity Group meets via Zoom.
On September 18, students across all of the Department of Educational Psychology’s programs came together for the first Diversity Student Group meeting of the academic year. During the Zoom meeting students had the opportunity to get to know one another and got to work finding common ground for future efforts towards equity, social justice, and anti-racism.
A summary of their discussion is included below:
- A few students support the idea of submitting necessary paperwork to the University for consideration as a formal student group.
- There was a great discussion on the need for faculty accountability, and follow-through with actions. Many times, faculty might listen to student voices and needs; however, this does not mean that they take meaningful action afterwards.
- The group agreed to seek to ensure that all voices are heard, including those who are often silenced or few in number.
- Students expressed that future student diversity committee events should be clearly publicized for their intended purpose (i.e., social event v. a formal student group meeting with a specific agenda/purpose).
- The group has interest in creating or publicizing resources for students to know where to go when they have a need or concern, and that we discussed conceptualizing diversity to be inclusive of various facets of diversity, including racial, gender, sexual orientation, and disability status.
- Students want protected time to address many of the complex social issues experienced within and outside of the department; and that they want their programs to support them in this.
- Students want to normalize calling out as a way to be an ally and to provide feedback as well as be receptive of feedback—considering both for students and faculty as important.
The next meeting is scheduled for November 4 from 12:15 to 1:45 p.m., Central time.
Educational Psychology students who would like more information on how to get involved may contact Tai Do (doxxx078@umn.edu).
