Accelerating Racial Justice & UC - Aligned Missions for Justice

Students who hold formal leadership roles in RAPP are selected for, among other things, the knowledge and skills they bring to the program.  Since we're a program committed to continual learning, not only do they learn through their participation as a leader in the program they're selected for but they also learn through pre-service training.  We're currently in the midst of pre-service training for ARJ 2013 leaders!

One thing I value working with leaders on in preparation for their roles is exploring where RAPP's programs fit into the university mission and vision.  My premise is that in working on our mission of fighting oppression through individual awareness and collective action we are supporting every mission above us.

As a part of this activity, we also explore the complex, tangled tree that is UC's organizational chart.  While this can be overwhelming and demoralizing, my hope is that in highlighting how many people all throughout the chart are working on building diversity and creating inclusion we feel less small and lonely.

A faked Tumblr image showing several (though not all) of the mission statements above RAPP (the Provost's Office could go between Student Affairs & Services & the university overall).

A few initial notes on how our mission connects with the ones above it.

Reflect Along with ARJ 2013! Prompt 4: When Things Get Challenging, Part Two

In the weeks leading up to the five-day Accelerating Racial Justice experience, participants are encourage to reflect on a series of prompts.  Each Thursday and Monday leading up to the experience, a new prompt is shared with the group.

Join them in these reflections!  Here's the fourth prompt they received (prompts one, two, & three):

Again, we will be working to have conversations about race, difference, and other potentially “loaded” topics.  When these conversations are personal, meaningful, and authentic they can result in folks experiencing a wide variety of feelings, including feeling upset, triggered, offended, confused, anxious, and uncertain.

Our last prompt asked you to reflect on when we ourselves have these feelings ourselves.  Let’s reflect on when we make others feel that way, accidentally or otherwise.

How will I handle when I realize I’ve contributed to someone else feeling this way?  How will I stay engaged in the conversation when I know I have upset, offended, or angered someone else?  

How might these experiences and working through them with the group contribute to communal learning?

Countless RAPP dialogues, discussions, debates, and more have happened in this room!  Here's ARJ 2012 in Hodie's basement, home to RAPP retreats since 1986!

Reflect Along with ARJ 2013! Prompt 3: When Things Get Challenging, Part One

In the weeks leading up to the five-day Accelerating Racial Justice experience, participants are encourage to reflect on a series of prompts.  Each Thursday and Monday leading up to the experience, a new prompt is shared with the group.

Join them in these reflections!  Here's the third prompt they received (prompts one & two):

We will be working to have conversations about race, difference, and other potentially “loaded” topics.  When these conversations are personal, meaningful, and authentic they can result in folks experiencing a wide variety of feelings, including feeling upset, triggered, offended, confused, anxious, and uncertain.

How do I handle feeling like that?  How do I express that I’m feeling upset when I am feeling it?

How will I manage to stay engaged or re-engage in the conversation?  How might these feelings and working through them with the group contribute to the process of communal learning?

Only the people in the picture know whether this conversation at ARJ 2012 was a "deep" one or not. ;)

Reflect Along with ARJ 2013! Prompt 2: Authenticity, Accountability, and Self-Awareness

In the weeks leading up to the weeklong Accelerating Racial Justice experience, participants are encourage to reflect on a series of prompts.  Each Thursday and Monday leading up to the experience, a new prompt is shared with the group.

Join them in these reflections!  Here's the second prompt they received:

Authenticity.

Accountability.

Self-Awareness.

What do these mean to me?  In what ways, if any, do these three connect?

Shyamal & Rebecca check their perspective at ARJ 2012

Impact of RAPP XXVIII - Pre- & Post-Test Analysis

The annual assessment of RAPP's impact through pre- and post-test analysis is completed (in first draft)!

Curriculum and Measurement

The flagship program of the Racial Awareness Program is the RAPP 9-month experiential social justice education program.  The 2012-13 class of RAPP was the 28th group of University of Cincinnati students to participate in this program.  As such, they are known as RAPP XXVIII.

The curricular objectives for the RAPP 9-month program were established in Fall 2008 and updated in Fall 2012 to be:

• Develop relationships with new people
• Develop ability to communicate across difference for learning and understanding
• Recognize that oppression is systemic, pervasive, interlocking, and imbedded
• Recognize own agency

The RAPP XXVIII experience was facilitated by the RAPP Program Coordinator Rebecca Lehman and RAPP Student Worker Brice Mickey.  Following the set of session goals that constitute the RAPP Curriculum, these facilitators developed 14 sessions and three overnight retreats utilizing social justice education resources and intergroup dialogue practices.  Three student volunteers also helped facilitate the RAPP XXVIII group process as peer educators and mentors – Farooq Alkhateeb, Tianshu Lu, and Kristen Myers-Young – having previously participated in the RAPP 9-month program and received pre-service and on-going training in social justice peer education.

The pre- and post-test instrument was developed and first implemented in Fall 2009 and has been updated annually by the facilitation team to reflect participant feedback and updates in the curriculum as well as issues found in assessment.  RAPP XXVIII is the fourth group on which it has been administered.  The pre-test was administered at the second meeting of the group and the post-test was administered at the twelfth (penultimate).

General Results

Twenty-eight students committed to RAPP XXVIII and 24of these graduated through the program in April 2012 (85.7% retention).  Twenty-one of these graduates completed both the pre- and post-test (87.5%).

All RAPP members committed to participating in all RAPP XXVIII meetings and retreats (each meeting is one session, each retreat has three sessions) and completing brief activities between sessions (e.g. "write the meeting dates in your calendar," "record a page of reflection in your journal"); RAPP XXVIII had a total of 22 sessions and 13 between sessions activities.  

The overall average for participation was attendance at 89.9% of sessions.  Previous analysis demonstrated that participating in 80% or more of sessions is critical to achieving the learning objectives; 21 participants (87.5%) of the group attended 80-100% of the sessions.

Key Findings

By section, the key highlights are:

• Identities – Participants reported an overall increase in racial and gender identity awareness.  When divided into dominant and subordinated group identities, the greatest reported change was among racial identity awareness of White/Caucasian students.
• Comfort in Discussion – Participants reported an increase in the number of people in the group with whom they report being comfortable discussing difficult topics.  Participants also reported any increase in their overall comfort discussing racism, sexism, cissexism, and heterosexism.  RAPP participation enhanced participants general awareness and knowledge related to oppression and their skill in having conversations around it.
• Key Words – Participants demonstrated an increased ability to define and quality of definition of key words related to social justice education (oppression, privilege, ally, social construct, and intersectionality).  The greatest demonstrated increase was for social construct.
• Challenging Others – Participants reported being more likely to verbally express disagreement with statements they found offensive made by people across all relationships surveyed.  The biggest reported increase was with expressing disagreement with co-workers and strangers.
• Communicating – Participants reported an increase in use of cross-cultural communication strategies with all relationships surveyed.  The greatest reported increase was in acknowledging multiple perspectives.
• Identifying Racism – Participants were slightly more likely to identify the connection with racism in institutional and social levels.
• Feedback – In response to open-ended questions on the post-test, participants provided feedback on the overall RAPP XXVIII experience.

o   Learnings/Enhancements:  All participants were able to describe something they learned or enhanced through their participation.  Most frequently noted were learning in line with the “each one teach one” philosophy, understanding privilege, recognizing oppression as complex, and communication skills.

o   Desired changes:  Participants provided a variety of suggestions for improving the RAPP 9-month process, most frequently noted were the meeting timeframe, providing social activities between sessions, and increasing the use of educational simulations in sessions.

o   Sense of connection with UC:  Four-fifths responded with an unequivocal yes when asked whether RAPP impacted their sense of connection with UC; all respondents described ways in which RAPP positively impacted their UC experience.

For full reporting of findings, please contact RAPP Program Coordinator Rebecca Lehman for the full report.  Included at the end are important-to-note limitations to the data and analysis.

Bearcats at Student Social Justice Training Institute

RAPP was able to sponsor three UC students to participate in the 2013 Student Social Justice Training Institute (Student SJTI):  RAPP XXIX Facilitator Brice Mickey, ARJ 2013 Facilitator Jamieson Williams, and ARJ 2014 Facilitator Meg Groat.

The Student SJTI is a national program for college/university students who've done a fairly significant amount of work on social justice issues.  From Wednesday, July 17th through Saturday, July 20th, our three Bearcats will join dozens from around the country in developing their skills around dialogue and connectedness.

It's "an intensive developmental opportunity for students to examine the complex dynamics of oppression and to develop strategies to foster positive change on their campuses and in their communities."

Check back to the blog over the next few weeks as Brice, Jamieson, and Meg share about their experience!

Accelerating Racial Justice 2013 - Curriculum Refresh Underway

One of the ways RAPP programs keep their curricula up-to-date in terms of content and process is annual reviews & "refreshes" of our curricula.  Though it means an on-going time investment, it also means new people are able to participate in the curricular process each year, sharing their learning and insight.

Accelerating Racial Justice is currently undergoing its "curriculum refresh."  People from the RAPP Steering Committee and student staff of ARJ 2013 are reviewing the content, poring through a wealth of feedback from the pilot group, and identify then making needed changes.

ARJ's curriculum was initially developed by members of the RAPP Working Group using the Understanding by Design curriculum and assessment method throughout the summer of 2012.

We have three remaining meetings in the process - contact RAPP Program Coordinator Rebecca Lehman (rebecca.lehman@uc.edu) if you're interested in joining us!

Notes on ARJ's Enduring Understanding from the first curriculum refresh meeting.

"RAPP X & Friends" Meet-Up - Tomorrow at 1PM

RAPP X alumni Damon Heard and Tamara Williams Van Horn realized they were both going to be in Cincinnati at the same time and have put together a mini-reunion of sorts for friends and alumni of RAPP.

At 1:00PM on Friday, July 19th, all are welcome in the RAPP Office (669 Steger Student Life Center, UC Clifton Campus) for some reconnecting, some reminiscing, and some good RAPP Office conversations.

RSVP through the Facebook Event if you'd like or just stop by!  All are welcome!

Reflect Along with ARJ 2013! Prompt 1: Bringing It All Back

In the weeks leading up to the weeklong Accelerating Racial Justice experience, participants are encourage to reflect on a series of prompts.  Each Thursday and Monday leading up to the experience, a new prompt is shared with the group.

Join them in these reflections!  Here's the first prompt they received:

Thursday, July 18: Bringing It All Back

I am a member of at least one community, likely a member of many communities.  I’m about to go on a five-day “learning vacation” all about racial justice and inclusive leadership.

In what ways am I involved in my community?  What am I hoping to bring back from this experience?

ARJ 2012 participants (pictured above) brought their learnings back to a wide variety of campus groups and community organizations.

Connected with Campus - Impact of RAPP XXVIII

Throughout the summer as analyses are completed on the 2012-13 groups in the RAPP 9-month, Accelerating Racial Justice, and the Social Justice League, I'll share insights from the results here on the blog.

A new question we added to the post-test for RAPP XXVIII was "Has participation in RAPP XXVIII impacted your sense of connection with the University of Cincinnati?  How and/or how not?"

Four-fifths of the group gave an unequivocal and literal yes - RAPP positively impacted their sense of connection with UC.  Here are some of their comments on how RAPP did this:

"I felt zero connection to the university.  I'm a non-traditional student who went to class and went home.  Now I know I have a family, a safe space, and the university is a living organism to me instead of a lifeless slab of concrete."

"At first when I arrived at UC I was another face in the crowd. Now I know people.  I'm not just a commuter and I do plan on joining more clubs."

"I'm glad I became a member of RAPP, I've expanded my knowledge about the world I live in, and I've also become a smarter and wiser person because of it.  Because of RAPP, next year I plan on joining more groups where I can apply the skills I've acquired through RAPP 28!!"

"I am proud that UC continues RAPP.  It lets me know that 'inclusivity' and 'acceptance' and 'diversity' aren't just filler words.  Some people are trying."

"I feel connected with students who are RAPP alumni and I get respect from faculty & staff.  I have a great understanding of the inequality in how this institution is run and leaders' positive and negative influence.  I have a greater awareness of my fellow students' demographics & issues and of programs related to RAPP."

Those who did not say a full "yes" to sense of connection with UC shared ways in which RAPP positively impacted their experience and and feelings toward the university:

"It has brought a positive to my feelings about the university."

"Not so much with the university itself but definitely with some of the students (RAPPmates) and faculty (facilitators)."

"It has made me realize that I am closer to the African American community on campus than I thought I was because many of our experiences are similar."

"I suppose. I'm NOT a school spirit person, but this program has a lot of value & is unique to UC."

While RAPP may do something people find risky for the institution - acknowledging that as an institution we practice the same oppression we're taught in our society - we also succeed at helping people connect with it.  We open up the complex ways that we work to combat the oppression we've been taught and are steeped in daily, just as we ask RAPPers to join us in doing as individuals.

It may initially seem like an unusual way to develop Bearcat Pride, but it certainly is a powerful and impactful way!

Get to Know Accelerating Racial Justice 2013!

The final deadline for Accelerating Racial Justice 2013 passed and we've got our group together!  Thirty-four Bearcats are scheduled to head to Grailville for a week on racial justice and inclusive leadership in August.

Twenty-six of these are participants, the second class of ARJ ever!  Eight are serving in formal leadership roles.

Here's a little insight into our group:

Our group is academically strong, reporting an average GPA of 3.3.

The group comes from seven UC's colleges and represents a balance of class standings.

A&S= McMicken College of Arts & Sciences; CAHS = College of Allied Health Sciences; CBA = Lindner College of Business Administration; CCM = College Conservatory of Music; CEAS = College of Engineering & Applied Science; CECH = College of Education, Criminal Justice, & Human Services; DAAP = College of Design, Art, Architecture, & Planning

In the application process, the group was given the chance to share their racial identity and all chose to answer.  Here is the group's make-up by reported racial identity: