As an educator I value social justice and the education of students on diversity issues to create a more inclusive, knowledgeable, and aware citizen.  From day one, I work with my students in establishing expectations that firmly support diversity and the fostering of an inclusive environment for all.  As such, I decided to create an inclusive programming workshop in my Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs course for the student organization that I advised. 

I had been advising the organization for a year at the time I created this three-part educational workshop.  The organization had been facing issues regarding multiculturalism, specifically its lack of programming for a diverse student population.  In response to this, I developed a three-part workshop for the Leadership and Executive board members of the organization.  Based upon Pope, Reynolds, and Mueller’s (2004) concept of multicultural competence, session one focused on building multicultural awareness, session two focused on developing multicultural knowledge, and session three focused on fostering multicultural skills.  Constructed using Bloom’s Taxonomy, each session grew developmentally more challenging, culminating in the final session requiring students to synthesize and construct their own multicultural knowledge and skill regarding student programming.  Through the planning of this workshop, students were systemically assessed to ensure that students understood the material.  These assessments (pre-, formative, and summative) informed my facilitation of the workshop, and provided qualitative and quantitative evidence of learning.

This workshop and the attached lesson plan, handouts, and assessment data and analysis, demonstrate an exemplary proficiency level for the equity, diversity, and inclusion competency.  Firstly, this workshop demonstrates my ability to design, develop, and facilitate an effective inclusive program based upon social justice concepts.  Using relevant multicultural and cognitive theories, I constructed a program to build the multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills of my students.  As a result, my students’ understanding of what constitutes diversity, as well as campus cultural knowledge, was challenged and effectively expanded.  With this new understanding, I provided students applicable learning experiences (e.g. make a student program more inclusive) to actively use their new knowledge in a safe environment.  This presentation was later revised and presented to the professional staff of the Office of Campus Activities, educating and challenging the staff to consider the perspectives and unique qualities of a diverse student population.

Secondly, this workshop illustrates my ability to help facilitate difficult dialogues with students regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion.  Pope, Reynolds, and Mueller (2004) wrote that facilitating difficult conversations is essential in developing a multiculturally competent individual.  During one of the sessions, a student brought up the upcoming comedy festival and how a women’s organization on campus was upset that the organization was not considering any female comedians.  She asked if the organization should have placed a woman on the list, although they believed such a comedian would not be successful and financially responsible.  With this question, I had no answer for my students.  I openly admitted this to my students and we had a constructive and thoughtful conversation as a group about the situation.  Although we did not come to a definite answer and I did not have an answer, I was proud my students considered this question.  Rather than shying away, I helped facilitate the conversation, and students began to understand the complexities of inclusion and the importance of conversation.  Overall, this workshop provided me an opportunity to further develop my equity, diversity, and inclusion competence.