Office for Equity & Inclusion

Vigil for a Compassionate World
Contact: SSW Office of the Dean | June 17, 7 p.m. | Chapin Lawn

SSW alum and director of Smith’s Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, Matilda Cantwell, will guide us as a community to reflect on our shared humanity, to recognize, honor and grieve the pain, loss and suffering experienced by individuals and communities domestically and around the world.

https://scma.smith.edu/calendar/pride-pop-queer-identities-scma-collection

Friday!

Pride Pop-Up: Q***r Identities In the SCMA Collection Smith College Museum of Art This pop-up exhibition is open to all. Drop-by the museum's Cunningham Center for Prints, Drawings and Photographs on SCMA’s second floor to see a special installation of art by and of LGBTQIA+ artists and subjects from the museum's collection. Co-Sponsored and organize...

https://ssw.smith.edu/news-and-events/events/ssw-juneteenth-bbq-celebration

SSW Juneteenth BBQ Celebration | School for Social Work Join us for an all-community celebratory BBQ to honor Juneteenth! Come enjoy guest speaker Omou Sylla, followed with music by local Afro-funk band The Lost Trib…

Last week, Loretta J Ross, Toby Davis, and Luz Marina Rodriguez-Cintron led an inspiring 3-day workshop on “Calling In the Calling Out Culture” at Smith College. Staff, faculty, and students were transformed. “What a profound opportunity this was to reframe conflict as an opportunity to deepen relationships rather than wrestle in disagreement.”

New positions in the Accessibility Resource Center (formerly the Office for Disability Services). Please share with anyone that might be interested!

Assistive Technologist - R-202400234
https://smithcollege.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/smithcollege/job/Smith-College/Assistive-Technologist_R-202400234

Documentation, Records, & Data Specialist - R-202400233
https://smithcollege.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/smithcollege/job/Smith-College/Documentation--Records----Data-Specialist_R-202400233

Assistive Technologist If you have any questions about the position or our application process, reach out to us at [email protected]. Disability Services Job Description Job Summary Responsibilities include liaison work with campus partners, document accessibility conversion, advising and orienting students/staff/fac...

https://websites.umass.edu/ddhs/events/summit2024/

Neurodiversity and Disability Studies Summit – Undergraduate Specialization in Developmental Disabilities and Human Services (DDHS) Neurodiversity and Disability Studies Summit Event Details April 26th, 2024 – 1-4pmFurcolo Hall (and Zoom) We are thrilled to announce that we will be hosting a summit focused on neurodiversity and disability studies at UMass Amherst this spring! We will have a poster session of undergraduate and ...

Black History Month is an opportunity to understand Black Histories, going beyond stories of racism and slavery to spotlight Black achievement.

Visit the screen in Red Room in the CC for more information on Black History at Smith College!

Our December newsletter is out! To read a word from our VP Floyd Cheung and updates on equity and inclusion initiatives on campus, click the following link or email [email protected] to be added to the mailing list ❄️

https://mailchi.mp/1951b51034bb/september-newsletter-16045640?e=[UNIQID]

Smith College Earns Award From Physics and Astronomy SEA Change Program - AIP.ORG P/A SEA Change celebrates first awardee, opens applications for next cohort.

Student reporter Lola Anaya writes, "A sense of community was seen throughout the day’s programming."

Cromwell Day 2023 Creates New Worlds with Art and Joy – The Sophian Photo Courtesy of Smith College Cromwell Day 2023 Creates New Worlds with Art and Joy By Lola Anaya on November 6, 2023 | Features Nov. 2 marked this year’s Cromwell Day, an annual celebration of Otelia and Adelaide Cromwell, the first Black graduate and first Black professor at Smith, respectivel...

Smith Reads: Leaning on Joy This year's Smith Reads book choice is a collection of essays by Ross Gay that celebrates the search for "ordinary wonders" in challenging times. Gay will be on campus in September for a poetry reading and a special session with new students.

Tajweed Quran Classes
Saturday, Sept. 23, 3:30 p.m., Chapel Sanctuary

LEARN QURAN WITH TAJWEED FOR BEGINNERS with Islamic Studies Teacher Arina Beg. Learn how to read the Quran beautifully and become closer to Allah (SWT). “…and recite the Qur’an slowly and distinctly.” (Holy Quran 73:4) You will recite the Quran, using a step by step process where you will learn the basics of Tajweed rules, starting with the correct pronunciation of the letters and their characteristics. All are welcome.

Please join us on October 12 at 7pm for a conversation with Andrew Leland and Jina B. Kim about Leland's new book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight!

Welcoming, Questioning, Joy Inducing Christian Welcome Service
Helen Hills Hills Chapel Sunday, September 17th at 5:00pm
Come sing, worship, read scripture and learn together. Followed by a dinner and a Q&A about resources for Christian community in the area.
Rev. Matilda Cantwell Director of Religious & Spiritual Life and College Chaplain and Rev. Andrea St. Louis Director of the Jill Ker Conway Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center will offciate.
Sponsored by the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life
We are Q***r affirming, question validating, and hospitality offering! All are Welcome!
For disability access information or accommodation request, please call (413) 585-2071 or email [email protected] at least 10 days before the event.

IDP102: Thinking Through Race begins this Friday at 2:45 in Stoddard G2. Students may earn course credit, and staff and faculty may audit.

Living syllabus: https://sites.smith.edu/idp102-fa23/

Taught by Ginetta Candelario, Floyd Cheung, Laura Katz, Jina B. Kim, Jen Malkowski, Alice Nash, Javier Puente, Loretta J. Ross, and Rachel Rubinstein

A message of welcome to Smithies from VP Floyd Cheung:

Part of living in a diverse community includes acknowledging the diversity within ourselves, for we contain multitudes. The poet Walt Whitman coined this phrase in his epic “Song of Myself,” in which he asked rhetorically,

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

Each of us contains multitudes. We are more than our race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, class, age, size, political leaning, or disability. We are all of these identities at once, however visible or invisible any might be in a particular context.

We are both extroverts and introverts. Sometimes we say “hi” to passersby, and sometimes we simply smile back. Occasionally, we raise our hands, and often, we are thinking things over. We are sometimes right, sometimes wrong, and always learning. We are naturally good at some things, and we can get better at anything we set our minds to. We are both where we came from and where we are going. We are our many failures and our occasional successes. We are able to try again and again, and we are able to acknowledge that sometimes the best way to finish a project is to drop it. We are not defined by the worst thing that we have ever done or by the worst thing that has ever happened to us.

We are celebration and longing, joy and sorrow. We are at times alone and always part of a community. This community, Smith College, contains multitudes of people, every one of whom contains multitudes in themselves, whose desire and calling is to help you discover, learn, and thrive. Welcome.

Sat Sep 02 2023 12:00:37 PM for Living in a Diverse Community, 9/3/23

Smith Reads: Leaning on Joy

Smith Reads: Leaning on Joy This year's Smith Reads book choice is a collection of essays by Ross Gay that celebrates the search for "ordinary wonders" in challenging times. Gay will be on campus in September for a poetry reading and a special session with new students.

https://www.smith.edu/news/smithies-at-anti-racism-conference

https://www.gazettenet.com/A-Racial-Paradox-in-What-Some-Call-Paradise-51225728

‘Your utopia doesn’t include Black people’: Northampton’s low number of Black people leave many feeling unconnected to community NORTHAMPTON — For many residents, Northampton’s small Black demographic stands in stark contrast with its distinct political identity. The city boasts a mere 2.7% Black population in a nation with an average Black population of 12%.Yet Black Lives...

In the latest episode of “In The Margins,” Ralph Newell sits down with noted DEI expert and strategist Sumun L. Pendakur, Ed.D. to discuss the model minority myth and how it masks the experiences of Asian American students, the importance of cultural centers, and much more.

EP117: The Model Minority Myth with Dr. Sumun L. Pendakur In this episode, Diverse host Ralph Newell sits down with noted DEI expert and strategist Dr. Sumun L. Pendakur.Named one of the top 35 women in higher educa...

This evening!

Secrets and Lies: Adopted Adults Exploring Trauma Secrets and Lies: Adopted Adults Exploring Trauma A Grounded Knowledge Panel® A Grounded Knowledge Panel® is a public conversation by a small group of people who have realistic, authentic and personal experience and understanding of a particular topic or question. This model was originated by Dr. ...

https://affcny.org/adoption-foster-events-ny/kinship-status/

Kinship Status and Designation; a Community Discussion The Adoptive and Foster Family of New York hosted a Community Discussion...   November 2, 2021 from 11 AM to 12:30 PM KINSHIP STATUS AND DESIGNATION - A community discussion focusing on policy, law and practice concerning the

Tonight!

https://news.wfsu.org/state-news/2023-06-06/a-judge-has-blocked-a-florida-ban-on-gender-affirming-care-for-kids

A judge has blocked a Florida ban on gender affirming care for kids Simone Chriss, Director of the Southern Legal Counsel’s Transgender Rights Initiative calls the ruling a “strong affirmation of trans folks, of their experiences and of the healthcare they need to survive.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/03/11/what-is-reproductive-justice-definition/11417941002/

Reproductive justice is a human rights, abortion access movement. Here's what to know. Unlike the more mainstream phrase “reproductive rights,” reproductive justice uses a human rights lens to go beyond abortion rights.

https://scma.smith.edu/calendar/miller-lecture-dr-nicole-fleetwood-art-age-mass-incarceration

Miller Lecture: Dr. Nicole Fleetwood on Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration Celebrated writer, cultural theorist, curator, and art critic Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood will discuss her project, Marking Time, which explores the impact of US incarceration on contemporary visual art. This project highlights artists who have been incarcerated alongside artists whose art examines US i...

Smith’s history is robust—the result of the experiences and contributions of its community members since 1871. Yet that history is not fully acknowledged in the names of our buildings and spaces, which are the most public expression of our collective past. As part of our desire to create an inclusive environment on campus, we look for opportunities to honor the breadth of our history through building names. Please use this form to submit a nomination before February 24th!

Building Naming Nomination Form | Smith College Smith’s history is robust—the result of the experiences and contributions of its community members since 1871. Yet that history is not fully acknowledged in the names of our buildings and spaces, which are the most public expression of our collective past. As part of our desire to create an incl...