Representative programming engages all students

As we approach the end of the 2021-2022 school year, we would like to acknowledge and applaud our IWL co-workers for their hard work and dedication to the programming that took place this school year. Further, congrats to the IWL team for being the 2021-22 CSB/SJU student team of the year.

This was truly a year of growth for all. We were able to put together events effectively and had an amazing line-up of events for Women’s Month. When looking back at everything we accomplished this year, something consistently striking was the lack of representation in attendance.

There was repeatedly a lack of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ representation at IWL events. Therefore, we considered: “How much or how little are we thinking about diversity and inclusion when we are going through the programming process?”

As a first-generation Mexican-American college student at a predominantly white institution, Lizeth sees the answer as clear. As a team, these questions were not being addressed properly. As the Intercultural Women’s Representative, Lizeth’s position is meant to ensure that traditionally underrepresented women in leadership are represented through the programming, events and content created by the IWL. However, we ask: “Should this be limited to just my own job description?”

This year has been one of transition and change as in-person events and programming continue to expand on both campuses. In addition to the one above, we ask: “Is the lack of students at events due to the current pandemic?” “Are students lazier now and simply more used to virtual events?”

We wanted an answer, so in February, to honor of Black History Month with the help of the president of the African Student Association, Kat Mazang , and the student manager of the Multicultural Center, Aisha Sadik, Lizeth put together an event called “The Beauty and Colorism Workshop.”

It was a beautiful event with an attendance of about 45 students. Students of all backgrounds showed up, and we even had a good Johnnie attendance. This event proved that students were willingly able to attend an event when and where they felt the title of the event catered to them.

So back to the question proposed to the IWL team: “To what degree are we thinking about diversity and inclusion when we are going through the programming process?”

It is crucial as a team and an organization that we are asking ourselves these questions when going through the planning process of an event. As an organization we want to continuously work on ways to offer spaces of acceptance and inclusion.

We also want to acknowledge that in order for the IWL to continuously succeed, we must address the needs and issues that the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ community live with on campus daily.

Looking into the fall semester we are eager in diversifying our events and will continuously work on ensuring that our events are catered to all Bennies and as mentioned before, Johnnies are always welcomed as well. We are both looking forward to the new Bennies joining our team and will let our seniors go with a heavy heart. However, we are confident in the leaders they will continue to be.