Participate in a forum
The Listen Forums are an extension of PLU’s Listen Campaign. The Listen Forums are campus wide conversations that engage community members in learning and dialogue about implicit biases, personal and community awareness, and understanding how behaviors influence workspaces, classrooms, and personal and professional relationships. The forums are designed as a space for students, faculty, and staff to learn together in community and as a part of the University’s mission of care and investment in the success of all learners.
Dates: More dates upcoming in Fall 2017
Place: Chris Knutzen East in the Anderson University Center
Listen to the conversation
View the videos
Listening
Microaggressions
Classroom
Belonging
Learn more about Listen in ResoLute
The fall 2016 issue of ResoLute, which highlights the core tenets of Lutheran higher education, offers a deeper look at the Listen campaign and how it fits with The Saint John’s Bible theme of justice for all people. Learn more about PLU’s commitment to introspection and its mission to create an authentic sense of belonging for all through the voices of Lutes.
Viewpoints
I feel stereotyped at PLU in two senses, first that I’m disabled and secondly that I am fiscally conservative. I am narcoleptic, and while this is not a disability seen outward very often anymore, I am honestly a little embarrassed to tell people I am because of the things they say. The biggest thing is when people tell me how lucky I am that I can fall asleep so easily. I have had teachers ridicule me for falling asleep in class, fallen asleep driving, and even in the middle of conversations. I can promise y’all this is not something I am “lucky” to have. However the little things people say about narcolepsy are nothing compared to being a conservative on campus. People have this idea that I hate poor people (I don’t, I’ve volunteered hundreds of hours to help people in need), that I’m some rich white guy (wrong again, lower middle class and my parents don’t help me with college), and that I’m a racist (I don’t even need to go into this one) – all because I have a different idea about how to restore the economy and make the largest amount of people better off. Capitalism has brought more people out of poverty than any state funded program, how are the ones who want more of it the bad guys?
I am proud and excited to be transferring back to PLU for my senior year. The engagement, pride and discussion of topics going on in the world today in regards to social justice give me hope that things can and will change.
What’s the cost to you?
Surprisingly, in higher education liberal bias, cultural appropriation and micro-aggressions are prevalent, occurring often; the vast majority unchallenged because the consequences, backlash and cost to severe. Sometimes the most well intended; those with formal educations, diversity training(s), immersions, or degrees/certificates in cultures|experiences outside their own etc…can unintentional diminish, alienate and undermine the same populations for which they espouse support.
Sometimes we have to face our worst self, actively face down stereotypes, challenge our inner circle of voices (family, belief systems, etc), really listen to appreciate voices/experiences that are foreign, unfamiliar or even uncomfortable to us. What cost are we willing to pay to earn the society we say we want? If you are having conversation about “these issues” with people you have chosen, and that you are not challenged by, then chances are you are hearing what is comfortable to you.
“We Can Make What America Must Become” by James Baldwin
“This is the crime of which I accuse my country and my countrymen,” writes Baldwin, “and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them, that they have destroyed and are destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and do not know it and do not want to know it.”
This is absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to show this to my high school students. Campaigns like this are why I am proud to be an Alum of PLU. We speak the truth even when it’s not comfortable, and we aren’t afraid to share it! Thank you so much for this. Go lutes!
As I enter my last year at PLU before retirement from a staff position, this conversation gives me great hope for our future because of the values PLU students are learning, sharing and passing on to the world. Listening is a difficult skill for many in our society. I have been guilty myself of hearing a person, but not listening. One has to stop, think and open the mind and heart to another in order to be successful at listening to another. Thank you to all who participated in this wonderful program to help us learn to LISTEN…..
Resources
Professional Development
WPC is a conference designed to examine issues of privilege beyond skin color. WPC is open to everyone and invites diverse perspectives to provide a comprehensive look at issues of privilege including: race, gender, sexuality, class, disability, etc. — the ways we all experience some form of privilege, and how we’re all affected by that privilege.
This year’s conference takes an exciting and different approach that we are calling in-conference-action. Conference proceedings will be shaped by with an introduction to the steadily growing and highly regarded approach to organizational and community change called “Appreciative Inquiry.”
Founded in 1990, NAME has become the premier national and international organization that is committed to issues of equity, inclusion, diversity and justice in schooling.
The National LGBTQ Task Force sponsors and organizes the Creating Change. 2017 marks the 29th gathering of this unique national conference and learning community. The Creating Change Conference is the pre-eminent political, leadership and skills-building conference for the LGBTQ social justice movement.
The ninth annual Northwest Conference on Teaching Social Justice takes place Oct. 29 at Madison High School in Portland, Ore. Kevin Kumashiro will give the keynote address entitled, “Troubling Social Justice Education: Five Reframings.”
The Justice Conference has since been an annual event, encouraging thousands of Christ-followers to live out the message of Jesus, and thus transform their communities by making justice a way of life. In 2016, the conference will be held in Chicago for its second consecutive year. We have deliberately chosen Chicago because it is the center point on the map of America’s history, with an eye on the future that’s informed by a deep respect and understanding of the past.
Financial Scholarships
PLU partners with Act Six to select high school seniors from the Tacoma-Seattle area who are passionate about their communities, eager to foster intercultural relationships, committed to service and leadership, and want to use their college education to make a difference on campus and in their communities at home.
Eligible: Students must be College Bound Scholarship eligible, attend a Washington high school in the 253 area code and have a 3.7 or higher weighted cumulative GPA.
Eligible: Any senior from Washington and Franklin Pierce high schools applying to PLU is automatically considered for this scholarship.
Eligible: High school seniors who have demonstrated significant leadership and service, and have achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.8 (weighted), or scored 1250 or higher on the SAT (critical reading and math scores only), or scored 28 or higher on the ACT.
Eligible: Students who have been selected for the President’s Scholarship only.
Research
Archambault, I., Janosz, M., Jean-Sebastien, F., & Pagani, L. S. (2009). Student engagement and its relationship with early high school dropout. Journal of Adolescence, 32, 651–670.
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497–529.
Cohen, G. L., & Garcia, J. (2005). “I am us”: Negative stereotypes as collective threats. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 566–582.
Feagin, J. R. (1991). The continuing significance of race: Anti-Black discrimination in public places. American Sociological Review, 56, 101–116.
Fischer, M. J. (2007). Settling into campus life: Differences in race/ethnicity in college involvement and outcomes. Journal of Higher Education, 78, 125–161.
Goodenow, C. (1993). Classroom belonging among early adolescent students: Relationship to motivation and achievement. Journal of Early Adolescence,13, 21–43.
Harper, S. R., & Hurtado, S. (2007). Nine themes in campus racial climates and implications for institutional transformation. New Directions for Student Services, 120, 7–24.
Mallett, R. K., & Swim, J. K. (2009). Making the best of a bad situation: Proactive coping with racial discrimination. Basic and Applied Social Psychology,31, 304–316.
Phinney, J. S. (1992). The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure: A new scale for use with diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7, 156–176.
Rankin, S. R., & Reason, R. D. (2005). Differing perceptions: How students of color and White students perceive campus climate for underrepresented groups. Journal of College Student Development, 46, 43–61.
Reid, L. D., & Radhakrishnan, P. (2003). Race matters: The relation between race and general campus climate. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 9, 263–275.
Sidanius, J., Van Laar, C., & Levin, S. (2004). Ethnic enclaves and the dynamics of social identity on the college campus: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 96–110.
Smart Richman, L., & Leary, M. (2009). Reactions to discrimination, stigmatization, ostracism, and other forms of interpersonal rejection: A dynamic, multi-motive model. Psychological Review, 116, 365–383.
Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2007). A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 82–96.
About
The Listen campaign is a collection of individual stories that provide multiple perspectives on what it means to be a community that not only embraces diversity, but also works actively in community to promote social change. Through personal narrative and storytelling, Listen can serve as a catalyst to actively engage the entire community in reaching our goals of being a place where all members have a personal investment in ensuring we work collaboratively and intentionally in becoming a more diverse, socially just and sustainable living, learning and working community.
Since ideology impacts strategy, Listen allows communities to take a holistic approach to meeting shared visions and goals of creating more just and inclusive communities. Instead of “fixing” minoritized populations (e.g. people of color, students who are first in their family to attend college, Queer-identified individuals), the Listen campaign allows communities to look closely at the environments and conditions that impact minoritized populations. For instance, this approach does not put the full responsibility of “fitting in” on minoritized communities, but it allows us to interrogate and interrupt oppressive, exclusive structures that may hinder full participation in the community by various minoritized populations. The aim is to not only ask the question, “What happened?” when a minoritized student is impacted by bias or microagressions, but also ask the question, “What is it about this community that allows this to happen?” The reframing of our shared commitment allows us to work in partnership to dismantle the oppressive structures, policies and cultural norms that impede positive learning outcomes, as well as cultivate a university community that is inclusive and equitable for all members of the PLU community.
The Listen campaign would not have been possible without the vulnerability and courage of many students, faculty, staff and alumni who dared to speak out. Their stories of pain, triumph, responsibility and action spark conversation, ignite curiosity and provide insight into what we can do as a community to live out our vocational mission of humanizing all members of our community and beyond.
Listen was inspired by a multimedia project launched last summer by The Seattle Times. The newspaper’s video series “Under Our Skin” documented conversations about race, microaggressions, white privilege and other complex terms and topics with a diverse collection of Seattle community members. It aimed to spark meaningful dialogue amid pervasive racial tension that continues to plague our nation.
What is the Social Justice Training Institute?
The Social Justice Training Institute provides a forum for the professional and personal development of social justice educators and practitioners to enhance and refine their skills and competencies to create greater inclusion for all members of the campus community.
www.sjti.org