#RAPPTaughtMe and Other Ways to Promote RAPP XXIX

We're in the last few weeks of getting together RAPP XXIX!  From analyzing information provided by RAPPers over the past five years, we know that word-of-mouth is consistently the most important thing to getting people to join a RAPP intensive.

Here are easy ways to be a part of that!

#RAPPTaughtMe

Use this hashtag on Facebook or Twitter!  Share something that you learned through your RAPP experience and share this link to the program applications:  www.uc.edu/sald/rapp/9month.html

Participate in On-Campus Promotions
Join us at any of the following events - it helps to wear a RAPP shirt, but isn't necessary:

• Chalking McMicken Commons, Tuesday, August 27^th, 12:30PM-2:30PM, chalk provided – we chalk messages about RAPP all over McMicken Commons’ sidewalks 
• Hispanic Student Welcome, Thursday, August 29^th, 5PM-7PM, Mick & Mack’s Café, wear a RAPP shirt & talk about RAPP – all of campus is invited to this welcome event 
• Asian Student Welcome, Friday, August 30^th, 5PM-7PM, TUC Great Hall, informational table – all of campus is invited to this welcome event 
• LGBTQ Meet ‘n’ Greet, Thursday, September 5^th, 5PM-7PM, LGBTQ Center (565 Steger), wear a RAPP shirt & talk about RAPP – all of campus is invited to this welcome event 
• Akwaaba Black Student Welcome, Sunday, September 8^th, 4PM-7PM, TUC Great Hall, informational table – all of campus is invited to this welcome event

Share a Video

RAPP has several videos series available online - pick a favorite and share it with the application link www.uc.edu/sald/rapp/9month.html:

• Why Join RAPP?  Videos one, two, and three.
• Why Did You Join RAPP? Jojo, Kevin, Rebecca, Matthew, Krystal, and Jalisa.
• The RAPP Mission. Versions one and two.
• RAPP's Mottos. Versions one and two.
• RAPPers go on to Be... Versions one and two.
• Why RAPP? Versions one and two.
• DKEJ Media Productions "Infomercial"

Wear a RAPP Shirt

Our shirts are known to generate questions and conversations!  From "why are there two Ps?" to "what's that mean?" to "I love that quote!" people often start conversations over the shirt.  Simply engaging in that discussion is a great way to spread the word about RAPP!

Class Announcements
Ask your instructor if you can talk about RAPP in a class.  Rebecca will give you handouts and pens to give out - and will come with you if you want!

Join the #RAPPTaughtMe trend on Facebook and Twitter!

Summer Time is Meeting Time!

Around the RAPP Office, summer is a time for many projects.  Training, long-range planning, analyzing the previous year's programs' impact, Accelerating Racial Justice updates & preps, grappling with big questions, and more is tackled by all the great people who make RAPP happen - student staff, volunteers, and the Steering Committee.

Here are some of the big projects we've been working on lately:

• Working through how to effectively implement "year one" of Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation training through SALD.  With the support of the Diversity Council, RAPP Program Coordinator Rebecca Lehman was able to become a Level I certified trainer in this.  How do we make sure they made an excellent investment?
• "Refreshing" the curriculum, session plans, and materials of Accelerating Racial Justice.  Refreshing is what I call the process of reviewing and applying all of the feedback we gathered throughout the pilot week and during two-week, two-month, and eight-month follow-up surveys.
• Exploring whether and how we could further integrate faculty and staff into the RAPP's current programming.  There is an imperative to connect more with these groups, but RAPP lacks the resources to establish any new programming.

Much gratitude to the following people for all their work with these major projects!
Becca Hammond (Resident Education & Development)
Brice Mickey (XXV)
Corinne Patterson (Women in Leadership & Learning)
Ericka Duckworth Harrison (University Judicial Affairs)
Gregory Gamble (ARJ 2012)
Jamieson Williams (XXVII)
Kim Fulbright (Ombuds)
Lauren Clark (UC Learning Assistance Center)
Megan Kreaps (XXVII)
Nicole Mayo (Director, SALD)
Shyamal Ruparel (XXVI)
Susie Mahoney (SALD)
Terri Hurdle (SALD

Notes from the latest Kingian Nonviolence training planning meeting.

Reflect Along with ARJ! Prompt 5: Taking Care of Ourselves

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 fifth prompt they received (prompts one, two, three, & four):

The Accelerating Racial Justice process involves a lot of dynamics.  Here are just a few of them:

• Dialogue based learning (a la Each One Teach One) with a new-to-you group
• Staying overnight multiple nights with a new-to-you group and in an unfamiliar bed
• Being in structured sessions many hours a day and having a roommate overnight
• Sharing personal experiences, individual opinions and questions, and individual values as a part of the learning process
• Talking through difference – differing experiences, differing values
• Talking about how oppression hurts people – both how it hurts us individually and how we are a part of this system of hurting other people

Knowing a bit about where we’re headed as a group, what do you personally need to make sure that this is a space that not only challenges you but also supports you?  What do you need to feel heard?  Respected?  Appreciated?  Confident in your ability to survive uncomfortable situations?

Knowing a little about the structure, what do you personally need to make sure that you get rest?  Time alone?  Take care of your health?

How will you express these needs?

Sometimes we find balance through connection and mutual support. :)

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