Growing up as a queer person in rural Alabama was not easy at times, but doing so afforded me the opportunity to understand that justice and diversity are intertwined. Championing justice and diversity necessitates campaigning for the rights of those that have been disenfranchised and marginalized. My commitment to justice and diversity parallels this ontological approach, and I have learned that listening and discussing issues of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are paramount for instigating change. I have maintained this ideology throughout my graduate education and I am committed to creating inclusive and equitable communities. This document will address three particular spaces I focus my efforts on: the classroom, the program in which I teach, and in my life.
Creating Inclusive and Equitable Classrooms
We are all part of communities that matter to us. I create spaces for students to explore the communities they are a part of and what issues matter. In the first week of class, I ask students to write down any words they associate with communities, themselves, and their participation in one or more of them. Encouraging students to think outside of socialized writing norms, students are allowed to introduce themselves, their preferred pronouns, and communities in any modality they chose. Personally, I talk to students about the queer community work I do to model community participation. For example, I bring in texts such as drag events supporting local charities; I then invite students to find tangible writing they are comfortable sharing in class. Students have brought in texts such as professional documents that propose fundraising plans and personal narratives explaining community writing processes. These conversations impact the classroom by allowing students from different communities to analyze how writing actually does things in communities, for better or worse. Analyzing how hegemonic practices that are seated in and out of the university provides students an inclusive and equitable space that oftentimes comes from programmatic initiatives.
Creating Inclusive and Equitable Programs
Another way that I operationalize diversity and inclusivity practices is through programmatic research. As a graduate student program administrator, I have worked with colleagues to connect course design to programmatic inclusion. This concept and practical approach means justice issues are integrated throughout the program and included in curricular design. I argue that one way to promote programmatic inclusive and equitable practice is to write them into student learning outcomes for the department, courses, and assignments. For example, we enact programmatic inclusion by creating scenarios for students to respond to that they will encounter in workplaces or their civic lives. One such scenario asks students how they might respond to an employee handbook that contains sexist language. Another requires writing about indigenous folx’ land during complicated construction projects. Writing prompts such as these ask students to think through, and write about, complicated JEDI writing prompts. These types of assignments open up conversational spaces in the classroom and they reflect my approach to diversity in my everyday life too.
Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Life
I came out in high school. While there was a lot of bullying, there were also a lot of powerful moments that helped me become the person I am today. Being transparent about the struggles I faced helped me relate to and learn from various communities, particularly marginalized ones. While I am careful about what I say and when I say it, I have found that having honest conversations about race, politics, and the effects of societal pressure over time have allowed me to truly listen to others and empathize with their plight in life. Encouraging conversations around historical moments of injustices, I hold, is one way to engage other people in social justice work. For example, when I attended community college, myself and a group of peers noticed the lack of resources for LGBTQIA+ students. We started conversations with school administrators about founding a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at the college campus. We argued that support for this marginalized group was part of helping different students learn about their school work and themselves. The administrators were hesitant at first, but we presented important institutional research, and were granted permission to create the group. The first GSA meeting had over 30 people attend, and many were part of the local community! Creating this student group lit a fierce commitment to creating inclusive spaces for all types of people at the collegiate and local level.
Moving Social Justice Forward
As I reflect on the different experiences I have had throughout my life, I am grateful and humbled by what I have learned. The future of higher education is, in my opinion, should move championing justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and reifying that protecting the most vulnerable is paramount. Arguably, this type of hard work starts with one’s own personal life. As such, I will remain steadfast in my commitment to helping students, colleagues, administrators, friends, and community members to not only enact justice, but create it.
Justiss Wilder Burry 