Agenda

1. Agenda Definition of terms Activities Data and Discussion Resources and Philosophies Social Justice Series and Tunnel of Oppression

2. What is Diversity? • Talbot (1996) defines diversity as “the structure that includes the tangible presence of individuals representing a variety of different attributes and characteristics” • Gurin (1999) in his interpretation of diversity refers to “structural diversity” as the proportion of individuals with a specific characteristic in an environment.

3. What is Multiculturalism? • Talbot (1996) defines multiculturalism as “a state of being in which an individual feels comfortable and communicates effectively across social groups” • Multiculturalism is developed through knowledge, awareness, and skills

4. What is Social Justice? • Broido (2000) conceptualizes social justice in terms that combine both distributive and procedural justice toward a “goal of full and equal participation for all groups, where resources are equitably distributed and everyone is physically and psychologically safe” • Both attitudes and actions benefit this goal • The development of allies requires recognition of previously unexamined privilege, power, and prejudice (Washington and Evans, 1991) “Equality means everyone gets a pair of shoes, Equity means everyone gets a pair of shoes that fit.” -Vernon Wall

5. Social Justice vs. Diversity and Multiculturalism • Social justice is distinct from yet related to diversity and multiculturalism • It is within diverse environments that multicultural skills and social justice attitudes are challenged and refined. • Milem (2003) stated that “supporting diversity in colleges and universities is not only a matter of social justice but also a matter of promoting educational excellence.”

6. Meet students where they are… • Cognitive development must considered as educators choose strategies that advance social justice attitude development • Many students will be dualistic (Perry) or absolute knowers (Baxter Magolda). • Social justice requires emotional effort as well • Self-reflection and perspective taking furthers students’ understanding of social justice issues • Learning Partnership Model is great to use when thinking about social justice programming

7. Social Justice Activities

8. Break & Social Justice Mix

9. Data on Diversity at Miami • Most of the data relate to entering first year students and are from the CIRP survey that is completed during the First Year Institute before classes start. • The data often compare Miami students to students at other highly selective public institutions. • The data are from previous entering cohorts. New data will be available by November. • Full reports are available on the websites of the Office for Institutional Research and the Office of the Provost. • In these slides, the term “ethnically diverse” refers to people of non-white racial or ethnic groups. This is the term used by the reports.

10. Student Backgrounds • More Miami first year students come from “traditional” family backgrounds (parents married, father has business career, mother is full-time homemaker). • About 68% of Miami students are from Ohio and about 24% are from neighboring states. • Less than 1% of Miami’s undergraduates are international students. • More Miami first year students attended religious or private high schools than their peers at other selective public institutions. • In recent years, the ratio between female and male students has been about 55% to 45%. This trend toward increased representation of women is similar to national trends.

11. Race and Ethnicity • Over the past decade, ethnically diverse enrollment in Miami’s first year class has fluctuated between 7% and 10%. Nationally, 29% of undergraduates at public institutions are ethnically diverse. In Ohio, 17% of all students in higher education are ethnically diverse. • Miami’s ethnically diverse students graduate at a high rate, approximately 72% compared to approximately 50% nationally. The overall graduation rate for Miami is approximately 80%. • The largest group of ethnically diverse students at Miami is African Americans. About 100 to 130 African American students have been part of recent first year cohorts. • Ethnic diversity among Miami’s first year Honors students tends to equal or exceed diversity in the overall first year class. • Ethnic diversity is relatively high among athletes in football, track, basketball, tennis, and softball. It is low among other athletes.

12. Social and Economic Status • Approximately 9% to 17% of students in recent first year cohorts reported that neither of their parents attended college. • Based on FAFSA data, Financial Aid categorized 4% to 5% of students in recent first year cohorts as “low income”. • Over 85% of Miami students in the 2005 cohort expected their family to pay for some or all of their education. • Miami students are less likely to report intending to get a job to pay for college expenses than students at other high-selectivity public institutions. • Only 2% of Miami first year students report that English is NOT their native language, compared to 12% at other selective public institutions.

13. Religion • Compared to other selective public institutions, Miami has more Protestant and Roman Catholic first year students. • Fewer Miami first year students report Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, or Islamic religious preferences. Fewer Miami students report having no religious preference. • About 79% of first year students report believing in God, which is similar to the average of public institutions. • Miami students report praying/meditating and attending religious services more often. More Miami students report attending classes or workshops related to religion or spirituality. Miami students also report questioning their beliefs more frequently. • More Miami students rate “integrating spirituality into my life” as “essential or very important”.

14. Attitudes and Beliefs • About 21% of Miami first year students report intending to join a social fraternity or sorority, compared to about 9% at other selective public institutions. • Miami first year students are more likely to characterize themselves as conservative than students at other selective public institutions. However, some recent data suggest a more even split between liberals and conservatives among the general Miami student population. This may mean that some Miami students become more liberal during their time here. • This conservatism is reflected in their attitudes on social issues. There is a strong correlation between social conservatism and religiousness. The number of hours a first year student reports spending praying or meditating each week is related to how conservative they are on social issues. • Miami students have had mixed high school experiences. Entering Miami first year students are more likely to report drinking alcohol, missing school because of illness, and feeling overwhelmed in the past year than their peers at other selective public institutions.

15. Disabilities • The percentage of Miami first year students reporting physical disabilities is similar to other selective public institutions. • More Miami students report learning disabilities (2.4% to 1.7%). • Overall, the Office of Disability Resources serves about 4% of Miami undergraduates.

16. Faculty and Staff Diversity • Our faculty is more ethnically diverse than the student body; about 15% of the faculty are ethnically diverse. This percentage is rising slowly as ethnically diverse faculty have made up 15% to 37% of new hires since 2001. • About 47% of faculty are women. This is compared to about 39% nationally. • The Division of Student Affairs is between 10% and 20% ethnically diverse. 75% of Student Affairs staff are women.

17. Implications and Discussion • What sort of picture do these data paint for you? • What do you expect when working with Miami students about issues related to diversity? • What do you expect when talking about What is the What with Miami students?

18. Now What? • The purpose of the following slides is to introduce University offices, resources, and programs that relate to these issues. • You can use this information when educating our students. However, remember that these slides are not comprehensive and other resources may exist. • More information on many of these resources will be available throughout training.

19. Culture, Origins and Gender: Now What? • Women’s Center • Provides resources and in-hall programs • Film festival • International Students and Study Abroad Offices • LGBTQ Issues: • GLBT Services • GLEAM (Gay and Lesbian Employees at Miami) • SPECTRUM (Miami’s student GLBTQ alliance; offers programming, Awareness Week)

20. Race and Ethnicity: Now What? • Center for Black Culture and Learning • Meeting area, conference space, resource library • Home to numerous clubs and organizations • Publishes calendar of diversity-related events • Office of Diversity Affairs • Let’s Talk Dialogues • Community Advocacy Alliance • Center for American and World Cultures • Academic unit that sponsors diversity programming • Latin festival uptown during September • Events, films and lectures throughout the year • Office of Equity and Equal Opportunity • Deals with all types of harassment and discrimination • Miami Tribe Relations • Partners in Learning initiative • Sponsors trips to Oklahoma, scholarships for students of Miami ancestry

21. Social and Economic Status: Now What? • Miami Access Initiative • Major new initiative guarantees scholarship or grant funds meeting the cost of tuition and fees to Ohio residents with Adjusted Gross Income less than $35,000. • Service Learning • Connects students with service opportunities • Center for Community Engagement • Connects students with nearby communities • Education and activism programs in Over-the-Rhine, a historically marginalized area of Cincinnati

22. Religion: Now What? • Student Activities and Leadership • Student organizations for all religious preferences • Interfaith Circle & Lights on Campus • Organizations which deal with faith exploration and interfaith dialogue • Interfaith Calendar on ORL Website

23. Attitudes and Beliefs: Now What? • Greek Affairs Office • Student Activities and Leadership • Student organizations for all political preferences, in particular College Republicans, College Democrats, College Libertarians • Associated Student Government • Source of leadership for Miami students. Provides funding for most student organizations.

24. Disabilities: Now What? • Office of Disability Resources • Campus Avenue Building, operates closely with the Rinella Learning Center • Office of Equity and Equal Opportunity • Coordinates ADA and Rehabilitation Act compliance • Miami Univ. Disability Awareness Club • Gaskill Hall Computer Lab • Houses a variety of adaptive technologies • Housing, Dining, and Guest Services • Provides accessible housing options

25. Why does Residence Life care about diversity? • ORL wants to provide comfortable, safe, and secure environments. This means we need to meet the physical and safety needs of all of our students. • ORL wants to promote student development. An important part of critical thinking and cross-cultural competence is understanding the perspectives of people who are different from you. We want students to move beyond dualism and absolute knowing. • ORL wants to promote community. This means making connections between all of our students. • ORL values diversity. It is something on which we place intrinsic value.

26. What does Residence Life do? • Recruitment, Training, and Development • In-Hall Initiatives and Crisis Management • Social Justice Series • Tunnel of Oppression • Peer Advocacy Coalition

27. Social Justice Series • Webpage: ORL Resources for Current Staff, then Training, then Social Justice Series • The Social Justice Committee addresses societal inequities arising from issues of power, privilege and oppression. We advocate a call to action and will foster growth, encourage personal reflection and inspire action among the Office of Residence Life staff by sponsoring meaningful activities, providing support to existing university programs and promoting involvement in unique on-campus events that focus on social justice.

28. Social Justice Series • The goals of the committee are: • Collaborate with all ORL staff members as well as campus and community groups in the teaching and learning process surrounding social justice issues • Work with staff to advance their development along a continuum to the point at which they are actively civically engaged • Clearly communicate the mission, goals, strategies, and requirements of the SJS Committee to all staff members • You as advisory staff members will work with your student staff members to achieve these goals.

29. Social Justice Series • Student staff members must attend one SJS event per semester, reflect on their experience there, and then use that experience in their work in the hall. • Advisory staff members will hold their SSMs accountable for fulfilling this requirement. • A calendar of events is on the website and other events can be approved by the committee with adequate notice.

30. Tunnel of Oppression • www.muohio.edu/tunnel • The Tunnel of Oppression tries to raise awareness about multicultural and diversity issues by giving people a chance to experience oppression in a hands on way. • Student organizations and staff groups volunteer to develop scenes for the tunnel. BE THINKING ABOUT YOUR SCENE NOW! Integrate it into your staff and community development models! • Tentative dates: Feb. 25, 26, 27, 2008. Tentative location: Clawson Hall basement.

31. Student Staff Training • On the afternoon of Friday, August 10th, SSMs will participate in a role-playing exercise that asks them to think about issues of diversity. • All SSMs will meet in the MPR for an introduction. • SSMs will then rotate between 7 different advisory staff members. The advisory staff will play roles and facilitate discussion. 3 sets of 7 scenes will be taking place at once. • Some advisory staff will accompany groups of SSMs and assist with the facilitation of discussion. Before the first scenario, these staff should take 5 minutes to talk about respect with their group and reassure the RAs. • All SSMs will then come together in the MPR for a brief conclusion. Further discussion with your staff should take place during in-hall time.

32. Commitment Exercise