October 2021

70% ALL CAMPUS VACCINATION RATE

76% ON-CAMPUS VACCINATION RATE

<10 ON-CAMPUS POSITIVE CASES

COVID-19 BY THE NUMBERS We all sat in Jarvis 110 about a month ago and talked about our COVID-19 plans, here are some updates and reminders for you as we approach October.

EQUITY, DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, & BELONGING PROFESSIONAL STAFF DEVELOPMENTS Take a look at some of the recent opportunities our pro staff are engaging in. August 2021 UW System LGBTQIA+ Cultural Competency Training Using Cultural Intelligence to Strengthen your Organization with Dr. Allegra Brown Financial Support and Attendance “A Little Black Book on Confronting Anti-Blackness” Week One event

“UNCOMFORTABLE” QUESTIONS We hope you have found time to continue your discussions around Emmanual Acho’s book from summer and training. But if you’re looking for a sign, here it is! Here are a few questions we encourage you to ask fellow staff members maybe in a staff meeeting, during your one-hour-a-week EDI time commitment, or one late night hanging out. On page 46, Acho states that, “the goal of sounding the alarm about cultural appropriation is not to stop anyone, white people included, from celebrating black culture. The key is to celebrate it as black culture - not to take it as your own.” How does Acho define the difference between healthy cultural exchange and cultural appropriation? How can you do your “homework” to learn more about other cultures instead of plagiarizing the work and history of other people? Acho chooses to highlight the areas of housing, schooling, and criminal justice in explaining systemic racism (starting page 75), showing how these three social institutions work in a “vicious cycle” of racial disadvantage. Addressing white readers, Acho writes, “you’ve likely spent your whole life enjoying the fruits of systemic racism.” What does he mean by this? Read through the agenda of the 1963 March on Washington on pages 167-168. To what extent do you think its aims have been achieved in the six decades since? How does this impact your perspective on the “patience” of black people and “appropriate timing” of the protests? DIRECTOR’S CUT Between running and my 30 minute commute to work and home again, it’s rare that I’m not listening to a new NPR show or other podcast. In the Director’s Cut of each of our publications, I’ll share with you what I’m currently digging into and learning about - maybe it will resonate with you too. If you’ve got something you want to share with me, please send your recommendations my way - stop by to talk about them, set up a meeting, email them to me at ludwiga@uwstout.edu, or chat them to me on Microsoft Teams!

MASKING

At one-month into the semester, it is absolutely appropriate to move from polite interruptions (Hey, please wear your mask) to polite documentations (Hey, I’m going to need to document that you aren’t wearing your mask). If you have questions about how to do this, please connect with your Coordinator. Here is a reminder for how that conduct process looks on the back end. 1st Offense: RLC sends student a warning letter about masking. 2nd Offense: RLC requests conduct meeting with them. 3rd Offense: RLC forwards to central office for conduct meeting. 4th Offense: RLC forwards to Dean of Students office for conduct meeting.

STUDENT STAFF SELECTION

If you can believe it, while we’re only three weeks into the fall semester, and we are already planning for the next round of student staff selection; this process is to fill RA, ARC, and SLA vacancies in the Spring 2022 semester. Our Hall Managers will assist with the interview process but we need your help recruiting applicants! Consider your classrooms, academic and student organizations, or other networks to encourage your peers to apply. In your October 20 Staff Meeting, we will ask you about your intent to return to your position in the Spring 2022 semester - if you do not intend to return, we’ll ask you to communicate this with your coordinator by Friday, October 29.

Applications will be available on the Housing Gateway on Monday, October 11 and are due by Monday, November 1.

“La Espiritista” Latinos Unidos event

This episode I’ll promote two podcasts I’m just finishing. The first I finished last month, “Be Antiracist” with Ibram X. Kendi - the follow-up podcast to his book,

The second podcast I’m finishing soon is “Nice White Parents” hosted by Chana Joffe-Walt and produced by Serial. In this five episode series, Chana dissects

Upcoming Events Continued book discussion for Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man

“How to be an Antiracist.” In the 12 episodes, he talks through the intersections of race with several other minoritized identities. Dr. Kendi interviews folks for a variety of perspectives and ends each show with concrete “next steps.” There wasn’t an episode I didn’t take away a wealth of knowledge and (more importantly) questions to continue asking myself to help me check my privilege and name social inequities.

whiteness in the education system and so clearly demonstrates how it shows up to both actively and, most noteably, passively define education for everyone - even (and especially) BIPOC kids. This has been a facsinating reflection and has pushed me to process many aspects of my K-12 experience that I had previously left unturned.

Intentional Diversity Series with Ebone Bell

Diversity is the Future

Do Not Mistake Kindness for Allyship

- adam