Today’s post comes from the Graduate Student Association’s Diversity Committee Chair, Yasmin Laird. Yasmin is currently pursuing her PhD in the Department of Educational Psychology with a concentration in Gifted and Talented Education. Her current research involves gifted, English language learner, and bilingual student populations.
Now more than ever, diversity is a topic of conversation within our society. These conversations are essential, especially for graduate and professional students, as graduate studies are not limited to one type of student. As graduate students, we all want to feel accepted and to welcome students from a range of geographic, racial, ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds, but sometimes there are challenges in fostering this diverse and inclusive experience. Although there is no handbook for the best way to foster inclusion and support diversity, fortunately, there are steps we can take to better welcome and support graduate students of diverse backgrounds. One way that this is currently being done at Baylor is through the Diversity Committee of the Graduate Student Association (GSA).
The Diversity Committee focuses on meeting two specific goals from GSA’s paradigm: cultivating a culture of belonging and collegiality and nourishing personal wellbeing. Practically speaking, this means that the Diversity Committee is responsible for considering the needs of and serving all students under GSA’s purview. Currently, the Diversity Committee connects with various groups on campus, such as those from minority backgrounds (i.e., racial/ethnic, religious), those with “non-traditional” situations (i.e., parents, online), and those who may require additional supports (i.e., international, food-insecure) to understand their perspectives and needs. The Diversity Committee also works with external university organizations and administrators to collaborate and/or connect students to existing resources. Simply put, our hope is that through the committee, recognition, support, and validation can be made for those with underrepresented voices, differences, and varying experiences.
The Diversity Committee also collaborates with the other GSA committees in serving these groups, which includes planning and hosting events that bring these students into a community or drafting policies to change campus or federal environments. One specific event of note is a virtual speaking event on October 15th with Jemar Tisby, the author of the book The Color of Compromise. To prepare for this event, the Diversity Committee has provided graduate students with copies of the book and has formed reading groups to discuss the ideas and themes from the book. These reading groups have allowed for graduate students to take part in critical conversations and introspection in a welcoming space. For some, entering college and graduate school may be the first time one has had the opportunity to engage with people of diverse groups; therefore having these conversations aids in expanding one’s capacity for viewing issues or problems from multiple angles and vantage points that might differ from their own. This allows for one to move beyond themselves and gain a panoramic perspective of the world, and specifically the campus, that they are in.
All in all, even though there are no hard-and-fast rules on how to achieve inclusion and diversity, the GSA Diversity Committee aims to provide support, encourage action, and make progress. Our vision is to empower graduate students by building community, break barriers and stigmas for students across backgrounds, and fostering inclusiveness. Our hope is that through these efforts, the graduate student experience at Baylor will truly be affirming, welcoming, and supportive for everyone.
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