Office of Multicultural Affairs Newsletter
April 2022 | D-Term | Spring 2022
|
|
Ramadan 2022
(Saturday, April 2nd - Monday, May 2nd)
|
|
|
|
Arab American Heritage Month
|
|
|
|
President Search Student Feedback Sessions
|
|
|
|
Upcoming Campus Program and Events
|
|
|
- Thursday, April 7th at 4:00 PM EST
- Thursday, April 7th at 4:00 PM EST
- Thursday, April 7th at 5:00 PM EST
- Thursday, April 7th at 7:00 PM EST
- Friday, April 8th at 12:00 PM EST
- Saturday, April 9th at 1:00 PM EST
- Saturday, April 9th at 7:30 PM EST
- Sunday, April 10th at 12:30 PM EST
- Sunday, April 10th at 5:00 PM EST
- Sunday, April 10th at 7:30 PM EST
- Monday, April 11th at 12:00 PM EST
- Monday, April 11th 12:00 PM EST
- Monday, April 11th at 5:30 PM EST
- Monday, April 11th at 7:00 PM EST
- Tuesday, April 12th at 5:00 PM EST
- Tuesday, April 12th at 7:00 PM EST
- Wednesday, April 13th at 12:00 PM EST
- Wednesday, April 13th at 12:00 PM EST
- Wednesday, April 13th at 2:00 PM EST
- Wednesday, April 13th at 6:00 PM EST
- Thursday, April 14th at 1:00 PM EST
- Thursday, April 14th at 7:00 PM EST
- Friday, April 15th at 5:00 PM EST
- Friday, April 15th at 6:30 PM EST
- Friday, April 15h at 7:00 PM EST
- Friday, April 15th at 12:00 PM EST
- Friday, April 15th at 12:00 PM EST
- Thursday, April 21st at 12:30 PM EST
- Thursday, April 21st at 7:30 PM EST
- Office of Multicultural Affairs sponsored programs and events.
|
|
Kindness Rocks Painting with Talent & Inclusion
Friday, April 15, 2022
12:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST
OASIS Multicultural Center (20 Schussler Road) |
|
Dinner With A Chaplain Featuring Rev. Mark Nilson (He/Him)
Sunday, April 10, 2022
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM EST
Rubin Campus Center - Hagglund Room |
|
Mental Health Implementation Team (MHIT) Office Hours
Monday, April 11, 2022
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST
Rubin Campus Center - Mid-Century Room |
|
BRASA Carnaval
Friday, April 15, 2022
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM EST
Rubin Campus Center Odeum |
|
Drag Show
Friday, April 15, 2022
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM EST
Alden Hall |
|
Kindness Rocks Painting with Talent & Inclusion
Friday, April 22, 2022
12:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST
International House (28 Trowbridge Road)
|
|
Lavender Commencement
Saturday, April 30, 2022
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST
Innovation Studio 203/205 |
|
|
Upcoming Holidays, Holy Days, and Commemorative Days
|
|
|
- Ramadan (April 2 - May 2)
- Palm Sunday (April 10)
- Rama Navami (April 10)
- Songkran (April 13 - 15)
- Holy Thursday (April 14)
- Vaisakhi (April 14)
- Good Friday (April 15)
- Passover (April 15 - 23)
- Hanuman Jayanti (April 16)
- Easter Sunday (April 17)
- First Day of Ridvan (April 20)
- Gathering of Nations Day (April 21)
- Earth Day (April 22)
- Feast of St. George (April 23)
- Armenian Martyrs' Day (April 24)
- Lesbian Visibility Day (April 26)
- Day of Silence (April 27)
- Laylat al-Qadr (April 28)
- Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) (April 28)
- International Girls in ICT Day (April 28)
- Arbor Day (April 29)
- April 2022 is observed as:
- National Poetry Month
- National Sexual Assault Awareness And Prevention
- National Autism Awareness
- Stress Awareness Month
- National Donate Life Month
- The Month Of The Military Child
- National Cancer Control Month
- National Child Abuse Prevention Month
- Second Chance Month
Happy Birthday to all of the April babies! |
|
|
WPI News:
Local/State/National/International News:
|
|
|
Mental Health, Wellness, Self-Care, and Mindfulness
|
|
|
Institutions and Meaning Group (coming in D-Term)
Thursdays at 3:00 PM EST (beginning March 17th)
Student Development and Counseling Center (SDCC) Group Meeting Room
12 Einhorn Road
Open to students who have themselves personally or through someone close to them experienced contact with institutions such as the foster care system, adoption, residential treatment, group homes, the criminal justice system, correctional facilities, or inpatient psychiatric treatment. A place for students who want to talk with others who have had diverse experiences with institutions to explore the meaning of their experiences. |
|
Current events may be hard to grapple with as multiple historically Black colleges and universities faced bomb threats, Minneapolis police fatally shot Amir Locke, and many states and districts continue to ban teaching inclusive books and talking about race. Amidst these aggressions, we want to remind Black educators to practice self-care—and all educators to elevate the importance of Black students’ experiences and their mental health. These resources can help. (Learning For Justice)
|
|
Virtual Mindful Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Mindfulness Wednesdays and Thursdays will be conducted virtually through Zoom for the foreseeable future and will not be held in person.
- The Wednesday session begins at 12:15 PM EST and the Thursday session begins at 2:15 PM EST.
- Sessions include a 10 – 15 meditation with time for questions or comments.
- Please email Robin Benoit for more information.
|
|
Live Guided Meditation | hosted by Meditation Breaks
- Immerse yourself in the benefits of meditation and mindfulness. This live online meditation class hosted by Meditation Breaks provides a wide array of easy to learn mindfulness teachings and techniques aimed at transforming your life -- including stress relief, increasing happiness, living in the moment, and much more.
- Great for people looking to learn how meditation can help them in daily life and for those interested in maintaining a regular meditation practice.
- Note: times are Wednesdays at 8:30 PM EST.
|
|
|
Mental Health Training Webinars
|
|
|
Student Mental Health Matters
Join Learning for Justice for a webinar about student mental health—and why it matters. Cohosted by Dr. Charles Barrett, Chair for the National Association of School Psychologists Multicultural Affairs Committee, this webinar will focus on challenges students face regarding mental health, including how those challenges can vary depending on their intersecting identities. We will also share examples of what schools and districts are doing to address these challenges. Finally, you will learn about tools and strategies for your own classroom and school community. (Learning For Justice) |
|
|
Part II Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Minority College Students
In this episode, we replay part two of the Diverse Talk Live! webcast, "Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Minority College Students." In case you missed it, tune in as the panel of experts return to look at campus climate policies after the surge of Omicron and how they relate to the mental health and health-seeking behaviors in minoritized students. Listen in as they propose supplemental resources for faculty who are on the front line and discuss what we can do at the campus and institutional level to better support student mental health and connect students to services who are disproportionately under-utilizing formal treatment avenues. (Diverse Issues In Higher Education)
|
|
|
Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Minority College Students
In this episode we replay the December 7th Diverse Talk Live! webcast, "Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Minority College Students." In case you missed it, listen in as a panel of experts evaluate and advise on how higher ed institutions can best address the mental health needs of minority students — particularly as they grapple with a myriad of challenges including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a nationwide flashpoint on systemic racism, punctuated by the recent guilty verdicts of the individuals charged with the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. (Diverse Issues In Higher Education)
|
|
|
LGBTQIAP+ Resources and Support
|
|
|
|
Read, Watch, Listen, and Learn
|
|
|
|
|
Master - Official Trailer | Prime Video
Three women strive to find their place at an elite Northeastern university as old as the country. When anonymous racist attacks target a Black freshman — who insists she is being haunted by ghosts of the school’s past — each woman must determine where the real menace lies. Streaming on Prime Video and in select theaters on March 18.
|
|
|
Films and Television:
- Residence Life Cinema (SWANK Motion Pictures, Inc.)
- Alcohol Awareness
- Asian Pacific Islander History and Culture
- Black History and Culture
- Constitution Day
- Disabilities
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Earth Day
- Hispanic History and Culture
- International
- LGBTQ+ Pride
- Social Relevance
- National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week
- National Native American Heritage Month
- Women's History Month
- Women's Studies
- World AIDS Day
- Anyone on WPI Wi-Fi can access free streaming services at cinema.wpi.edu.
Podcasts:
Books:
|
|
Celebrating Arab American Heritage Month
During April, we uplift Arab American Heritage Month. These resources will help educators celebrate Arab identity, counter negative stereotypes, teach about Arab history and cultures, and ensure an inclusive environment that supports Arab American students this month and throughout the year. (Learning For Justice)
|
|
Celebrate Maya Angelou
Take a moment to introduce your students to legendary writer and activist Maya Angelou. (Learning For Justice)
|
|
|
Voter Education and Registration
|
|
|
|
Massachusetts Primary Election
Tuesday, November 20th
Election Day 2022
Tuesday, November 8th
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) are non-partisan entities and do not support or oppose any political candidate or party.
|
|
|
|
Where the fight for the Black vote really started | History Refocused
Black political power was at its height during Reconstruction. What happened? In this first episode of “History Refocused,” we learn how a former slave’s story shows both the immense power of the vote and the community-shattering effects when it’s taken away by violence. Abby Phillip talks with CNN’s Brandon Tensley to discuss why federal intervention was key both in the Reconstruction years and still today.
|
|
|
Student Jobs and Internships
|
|
|
|
Professional Development Opportunities
|
|
|
Bystander Intervention to stop anti-Asian/American and xenophobic harassment
February - June 2022
Various Days of the Week
To combat the current rise in harassment and discrimination and to also proactively prepare for the future increase of hate incidents, Advancing Justice | Chicago is partnering with New York-based nonprofit Hollaback! and CAIR-Chicago to plan and implement an aggressive scaling up of locally-led bystander hate incident intervention trainings for community members.
Disclaimer: website contains an anti-Asian visual.
Register Here
|
|
Black Students Lead Virtual Conference
Saturday, April 9, 2022
The overarching goal of the Black Students Lead Conference (BSL) is to help students become stronger leaders and allies to the Black community by practicing inclusion in their organizations and campuses. The Conference empowers them to create a more accepting, equitable environment, and preparing them to work effectively in a diverse workplace. Participants will explore the history and roots of the Black community, examine where they are currently, and look to their future.
Email multiculturalaffairs@wpi.edu if you are interested in attending. We will cover your registration fee.
Register Here |
|
Learn about Graduate School at Purdue University
Sunday, April 10th - Monday, April 11th
The goal of the Early Discovery program is to empower promising underrepresented students at the freshman and sophomore levels to pursue research-intensive graduate study in engineering.
Register Here |
|
United Collegiate Women's Leadership Conference (UCWLC)
Saturday, April 16, 2022
The United Collegiate Women’s Leadership Conference is an interactive transformational experience where women from all walks of life come together to understand the authentic leader they have within themselves, while preparing them to tackle critical issues facing their campus and larger communities. Women often are socialized to believe that exerting themselves means they are bossy, or that being quiet means they are shy. Issues of systemic misogyny creates a dynamic where women often are left competing against one another, or believing that one woman’s shine can diminish another’s. The truth is that united women are more likely to be successful. Women should not have to choose which of their identities they are going to lead with in their personal and professional lives. At UCWLC, we believe it’s all for one, and one for all. UCWLC creates a space that is high-energy, empowering and designed to create a transformational experience.
Email multiculturalaffairs@wpi.edu if you are interested in attending. We will cover your registration fee.
Register Here |
|
National Student Leadership Diversity Virtual Conference
Saturday, April 30, 2022
The National Student Leadership Diversity Convention is the largest national gathering of student leaders and campus based advisors to address the most critical topics of diversity and social justice challenging our campuses today. Through experiential workshops, keynote sessions, and round table discussions teams of students will explore various elements of diversity and how they affect themselves and their campuses. During the conference students will be led through facilitated workshops to develop a Campus Action Plan for a program or event that the teams selects to work on together on in order to bring back a piece of the NSLDC experience to their own campuses.
Email multiculturalaffairs@wpi.edu if you are interested in attending. We will cover your registration fee.
Register Here |
|
|
Scholarship Opportunities
|
|
|
|
OMA Staff Virtual Office Hours
|
|
|
|
CRC Chaplain Student Hours
|
|
|
|
Academic Support Services
|
|
|
|
WPI Multicultural, Intercultural, International, and Religious Community
|
|
|
|
Campus Advocacy Resources
|
|
|
- Dean of Students | Student resources for advocacy, citizenship, empowerment, inclusion, respect, and support
- Office of International Student Life (ISL) | Student resources for international support, education, community, and advocacy
- Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) | Student resources for accommodation services, advocacy, support, and assistance
- Title IX | Student resources for anti-discrimination policy and equal opportunity education
- Student Development and Counseling Center (SDCC) | Student resources for counseling, therapy, and mental health/wellness
- Graduate Student Government (GSG) | Student resources for addressing the social and academic needs of graduate students
- Student Government Association (SGA) | Student resources for addressing the social and academic needs of undergraduate students
|
|
|
Additional Support and Resources
|
|
|
|
(OMA newsletter is distributed on Wednesdays weekly)
|
|
|
|
|
