R.I.S.E. Up Newsletter for October 15, 2020

John Carroll University Division of

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Volume 2, Issue 7: October 15, 2020

R.I.S.E.* Up Newsletter

*Reinforcing Inclusion through Skill-building and Education

Quote and photo - It is so important to enable people to use their Abilities and TALENTS to support themselves. â Dr. Temple Grandin

This October is the 75th Annual

National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

Held each October, The National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is an opportunity to recognize disability employment issues and celebrate the many and varied contributions to our workforce made by people with disabilities.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of NDEAM, which began in 1945 as "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week" and has undergone various changes since then (in particular, the removal of the word "physically" in 1962 to include people with all types of disabilities). This year is also the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The combination of these two major milestones seems an excellent time to encourage all of us to become more aware of the ways our workplaces (and campus environments) still need to improve in many areas of accessibility.

Nearly 1 in 5 college students and nearly 1 in every 3 employed adults between the ages of 16 and 64 has a disability. Considering that disabilities affect such a large proportion of the U.S. population, the daily inaccessibility of so many workplaces and campus communities is a surprisingly large problem. So why do these problems persist?

In a recent newsletter post, I May Be Anti-Racist But I’m Still an Ableist, social psychologist Dolly Chugh (author of our Summer Community Book Read, The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias) points to her own "casual ableism" as a major barrier to becoming aware of, acknowledging, and meeting, accessibility needs in her own workplace. In her article she suggests a number of ways she can stand to improve in this area, including: avoiding the casual idiomatic use of disability-related language, thinking about accessibility in design, and halting the pervasive spread of "inspiration porn."

This milestone year seems an excellent time to begin paying closer attention to the ways in which we can all work to eliminate ableism and create inclusive, accessible environments where everyone can thrive. For more about John Carroll's commitment to becoming a more accessible environment, please see the following links:

Student Accessibility Services provides a broad range of services for students with disabilities.
Human Resources supports employees with disability accommodations.
Career Services supports students (including those with disabilities) in planning their future career goals.
Our JCU Web Accessibility guidelines help digital content creators to ensure that their material is accessible to everyone.

(Looking for more resources? Drop a note in our suggestion box and we will track down or create whatever you need! Or, stay tuned to this newsletter for disability-focused workshops, articles, and other materials, coming soon.)

Division Announcements

Announcing our November Community Book Read Selection!

For November 2020, in honor of Native American Heritage Month, we are pleased to announce our community book read: Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass.

In this, her newest book, Kimmerer, a botanist in the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, combines her expertise in botanical sciences with traditional knowledge about plants gained through her cultural heritage. You can read more about Kimmerer in this interview published earlier this year.

This book read is open to ALL faculty, staff and students. Registrants will receive their own copy of the Kindle ebook to keep. Registration deadline is October 22 -- but spaces are limited, so don't delay!

Image of JCU faculty and staff on a Zoom call

(Photo: members of the October book club gathered earlier today to discuss the book Caste.)

Learn more and register here

CSDI Fall Hangouts

The Center for Student Diversity & Inclusion will host a series of fall community hangouts each week on Zoom. The next hangout will be Monday, October 19th at 9:30 am. Grab a snack and drink and come say hello!

Link: https://johncarrolluniversity.zoom.us/j/92213443019

Passcode: 992027

The same link and passcode will work for each weekly hangout. All are welcome and no RSVP is necessary. Come join the hangout and check in with your community! For more information, visit CSDI on Instagram.

Save the Date: LGBT 101

Save the date for the first in our 2020-2021 Virtual Safe Zone Series of workshops on LGBTQIA+ awareness and inclusion.

Our first LGBT 101 workshop will be held at 3:00 pm on Monday, November 16 on Zoom.

Registration coming soon!

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

In the United States, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by a spouse or intimate partner. This equates to more than 10 million people per year. As many as 1-in-4 women and 1-in-7 men will be victims of severe physical violence in their lifetimes. However, violence isn't always physical. Domestic violence can also involve verbal and emotional abuse, manipulation, social isolation, and coerced dependence.

If you know of someone who may be in an abusive or violent relationship, we encourage you to explore any of the following resources for safety and support:

JCU Title IX Office
JCU Police Department
NCADV
The Cleveland Domestic Violence and Child Advocacy Center
(216) 391-4357 (24-hour hotline)
National Domestic Violence Hotline
(800) 799-7233
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)
(800) 656-4673
Cleveland Rape Crisis Center
(216) 619-6192 (24 hour text/ hotline)
National Sexual Assault Hotline
(800) 656-4673

Blue Streaks - vote as though your community depends on it - November 3 2020

November 3 General Election:

What is your voting plan?

For more information about student get-out-the-vote efforts, visit the Instagram page of

JCU VOTES.

Not sure how or where to vote? Reach out to Campus Election Engagement Project Fellow

Sophia Maltese.

Want more information about voting from a Catholic perspective?

Next Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 5:00pm, Campus Ministry director John Scarano will lead a discussion on "Voting Discernment & The Catholic Conscience." Contact Teresa Schmidt for the Zoom link.

Other JCU events of interest:

Alumni Continuing Education Series with Dr. Dan Kilbride: Confederate Monuments & a Reckoning with Our Nation’s History

Following the Civil War, numerous monuments were erected and buildings were named in honor of those who fought for the Confederacy and against the Union. This webinar will explore the reasons these monuments were erected, how they have served as flash-points in our Nation's history, and why there has been an increased call for the removal of these monuments.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020 • 7:30 p.m. (Eastern)

featuring Daniel Kilbride, Ph.D., Professor of History, JCU

Open to all members of the JCU community.

Learn more and register here

Listen to the podcast here

Writers in Residence Fellow featured on Campus Ministry podcast

Last week our own Campus Ministry's "Faith that Does Justice" podcast featured an interview with JCU alum Zachary Thomas, Co-Founder and Program Director of the Writers in Residence program and a recipient of a JCU Anisfield-Wolf fellowship, talking about his work teaching creative writing to youth who are incarcerated.

R.I.S.E. Higher: Featured Resource of the Week

6 Quick Ways to Be More Inclusive in a Virtual Classroom

by Flower Darby

Chronicle of Higher Education, July 23, 2020

If you’re teaching this fall, you’re probably trying to figure out how your courses will be affected by the dual reverberations of Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter. Being prepared for an uncertain semester means both improving your remote-teaching skills and finding ways to make your classroom more inclusive.

... The ethos of an equitable and inclusive classroom is simple: “Everybody gets to learn. No one has to out themselves. All are welcome. All are supported by the very design of this class.” The hard part: How do you create online or hybrid courses with that ethos embedded throughout?

.... (click below to read more)

Announcements from our network:

Ohio Women’s Virtual Town Hall

Oct 27, 2020, 12:00 pm

Learn more and register here

Guest speakers, experts in the field, and YWCA will explore the Ohio initiatives to declare racism a public health crisis and the racial justice issues that matter most to the women of Ohio. Convened by YWCA USA and the YWCAs of Ohio.