Approach Analysis
“Clark University students during the first week of classes in Worcester, Mass. Their orientation included discussions about racism and diversity.”
In 2016 Clark University began training their freshman students to learn how to not say “subtle insults” to other races and genders than their own. The diversity officer Sheree Marlowe who won the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award in 2018 has shown students how they should act with their peers in Clarks diverse community.
"What ‘Microaggressions’ Sound Like
A sampling of language and behaviors called “microaggressions,” provided to Clark University students, that universities are urging students to avoid.
What Clark and Sheree are doing is great because it shows that colleges are trying to provide inclusion for their students, and making them feel like they’re in a safe space. It’s also showing others how to talk to people who are different than them and not singling them out.
The only thing I could see as a weakness or limitation is that it’s only a week. I don’t know if they go over anything else as an entire class after that and I feel like this would take longer for people to flesh out these actions or sayings from their lives.
I think starting small and working on the way people act around others is a great starting place to make people feel welcome and safe in the places they are living. With this as a starting point I think this can slowly sedge-way into decreasing other racial incidents on campuses one step at a time.
In 2016 Clark University began training their freshman students to learn how to not say “subtle insults” to other races and genders than their own. The diversity officer Sheree Marlowe who won the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award in 2018 has shown students how they should act with their peers in Clarks diverse community.
"What ‘Microaggressions’ Sound Like
A sampling of language and behaviors called “microaggressions,” provided to Clark University students, that universities are urging students to avoid.
- “Of course he’ll get tenure, even though he hasn’t published much — he’s black.”
- “What are you? You are so interesting looking.”
- Telling a nonwhite woman, “I would have never guessed that you were a scientist.”
- When a nonwhite faculty member is mistaken for a service worker.
- Showing surprise when a “feminine” woman says she is a lesbian.
- “You are a credit to your race.”
What Clark and Sheree are doing is great because it shows that colleges are trying to provide inclusion for their students, and making them feel like they’re in a safe space. It’s also showing others how to talk to people who are different than them and not singling them out.
The only thing I could see as a weakness or limitation is that it’s only a week. I don’t know if they go over anything else as an entire class after that and I feel like this would take longer for people to flesh out these actions or sayings from their lives.
I think starting small and working on the way people act around others is a great starting place to make people feel welcome and safe in the places they are living. With this as a starting point I think this can slowly sedge-way into decreasing other racial incidents on campuses one step at a time.