UQ Conference

Activity Name & Description

UQ Conference

About the Conference:

In 1993, UC Riverside established the first professionally-staffed campus LGBT resource center west of the state of Iowa. In the 20 years since, the number of college and university LGBT centers in California alone has reached 26 campuses, including 9 in the University of California system. UCR also led the way in 1996 with the first LGBT Studies Minor in the state and in 2005 as the first public institution in the nation to offer a gender neutral housing option to all students. The UC system embraced domestic partner health and retirement benefits, and transgender-inclusive health insurance for all employees and students.The CSU system, private universities and the community colleges of California are finding new and innovative ways every year to create LGBT-inclusive campuses. We honor each other by adapting best practices to our unique and diverse campus communities.

The UQ Conference brings us together to reflect on our progress and aspirations for the future, as we lead the way for LGBT-inclusion on campus.

Activity:

In the Spring Semester of my Graduate Assistantship, my supervisor tasked me to attend the UQ conference as a representative for CSUF. My role was gain experiences and find new strategies to help .

his all day conference would welcome different queer college students of color throughout the country. Mostly a regional conference, this year we had over 30 delegations and over 15 workshops. My role developed as a lead co-facilitator of the conference where I would assist in any way that I could to make the conference a success.

Date/Semester

 February 2nd, 2013, (Spring Semester)

Learning Domains Addressed (Labels)

X Leadership 
X Social Justice & Advocacy 
X Education 

o Assessment & Evaluation 
X Personal Development

Learning Outcomes

-Student will be able to indentify three different strategies/best practices that professionals utilize when they work with LGBTQ students in Higher Education Institutions.

-Student will be able to connect three pieces of advice/information that I will be able to use in my work as Graduate Assistant for the ASI LGBTQ Center

-Student will be able to meet three different LGBTQ Student Affairs Professionals

Assessment Rubric (One Per Learning Outcome)

Rubric UQ Conference

	SLO #1 – Identifying Strategies/Best Practices	SLO #2 – Identifying issues facing the LGBTQ Community	SLO #3 –Meeting LGBTQ Student Affairs Professionals
Advanced	I will be able to identify multiple strategies and best practices utilized by LGBTQ Student Affairs Practitioners.	I will be able to several different issues facing LGBTQ Community.	I will be able to meet and network with 3 different LGBTQ Student Affairs Professionals.
Competent	I will be able to identify two strategies and best practices utilized by LGBTQ Student Affairs Practitioners.	I will be able to identify two different issues facing LGBTQ Community.	I will be able to meet and network with 2 different LGBTQ Student Affairs Professionals.
Basic	I will be able to identify one strategy and best practice utilized by LGBTQ Student Affairs Practitioners.	I will be able to identify one different issue facing LGBTQ Community.	I will be able to meet and network with 1 different LGBTQ Student Affairs Professional.
Poor	I will be unable to identify multiple strategies and best practices utilized by LGBTQ Student Affairs Practitioners.	I will be unable to identify any different issues facing LGBTQ Community.	I will be unable to meet and network with any different LGBTQ Student Affairs Professionals.

 

Evidence

Student Learning Outcome One: Best Strategies

Goals for Centers: Inclusivity (trans)

-Visibility Training (ally)-have people learn about their own privileges, a place to facilitate a conversation, 

-“fix it” solution isn't working, here's what we don't have, here's what we do have, so we don't jeopardize the space

-Create a feedback system, so staff doesn't sweep over the rug, open about issues about group/resource center

-Awareness to be know that queer identities exist outside of the Mainstream in America-advocacy/education-difficulty getting voice heard

-personal goal: to demand more, not taken or burden, to demand change, its not my responsibility to change my oppressors, its their responsibility, 

-when you depend on the institution to change, there are excuses, not always about resources, look at greater culture in queer community-socially

            -focus less on material resources but more on 

            -dependancy we are indoctrinated into, surviving, we are always told if you want ____, you've got to do ____, think outside of that, think of limitations of what people mean by goals and plans

-Centers should get every thing improved, transparency of how $$$ gets backed to students

            -$$$ set aside for orgs instead of having to fundraising,

            -students have to do the work themselves, prioritize

Community Agreements to Utilize in LGBTQ Resource Centers:

(When working with LGBTQ students in the Resource Centers and in LGBTQ programming, it was agreed upon to have these recommended Community Agreements to help create a rapport with students.)

Preferred Gender Pronouns

-Holding space for each other

-Use I statements

-Active Listening

-Multicultural modes/spaces, recognize we all have different backgrounds and we have different modes of communication

-Recognize places of difference

-Specfrom your own experience

-Safety vs Discomfort: If something is triggering, please take self-care

-One mic

-Misery is optional

-Move up, Move back

-Don’t Yuck my Yum

-What is said  stays here, what is learned leaves here

-Oops, ouch, my bad

Student Learning Outcome Two: Issues

 Issues Facing LGBTQ Student Community:

-There is a prevalence of a Center-for some Higher Education Students, they don’t have a center, but an office, not advertised, intentionally by institutions

-Challenges for LGBTQ students- hangout space, instead of fully funded staffed center with adequate resources

-recommendations: create alliances with other like minded individuals, creating a better center, advertising in other spaces

-There is a need to co-program thru events like workshops

-There tends to be a division between racially white and meta queers of color

-There are separations between lgbtq groups of color,

-closed spaces may be a necessity, open qpoc spaces, monthly

-Closed spaces create the sense of safety

            -inclusive spaces are also important

            -lack of connection between lgbtq center and other cultural resource centers

-Many students feel like they have to choose between            

-not aware of intersectionality

-There is a need to create spaces for dialogue, collaborate between centers

                        -need for qpoc groups to be me visible

-For Queer Students of color, there may be a lack of visibility and support, lack of representation, not feeling comfortable, not dedicated

                        -create low maintenance club

-There is a need to check in for what’s bothering you (students)

-Practitioners need to:

-organize events: indentify QPOC, movie night, hanging out, open conversations about racism, heterosexism

            -how some places can’t accommodate space limitations for lgbtq groups, 

            -purpose of confidentiality for some groups, confidentiality limits membership, precautions needed to be safe

Student Learning Outcome Three: Networking

LGBTQ Student Affairs Practitioners I was able network with during the Conference:

-Nancy Tubbs and Toi Thibodeaux (UCR)

-Tam Welch, UC Santa Cruz

Anthony J. Garrison-Engbrecht- Loyala Marrymount University

Throughout the conference I was able to connect with the above practitoners. I was able to exchange business cards, emails and social media information as well as accepting an invitation to the Socal Higher Education LGBTQ Pro Staff organization.

           

For additional evidence, I listed the websites and some pictures from the Conference:

http://out.ucr.edu/events/pages/UQ.aspx

Reflection

 Upon reflecting on the Queer People of Color Conference, I was able to learn more about my role as a Queer Student Affairs Professional.  I found that continual reflection of self-determination was a key theme at the conference. I found this important for both practitioners and students.

One of the key facets of Self Determination: is about You naming You, vs naming yourself for the OTHER, conforming into a box, being named. Self determination is about asking “Who you are explaining yourself for?.” Being both a Queer Professional and student means doing one’s part as a change agent to dismantle the systems of power. One of the beauties of being “Queer” is our fluidity, being able to change, able to move, and transform. I think both Student Affairs Practitioners and students should continually shift to a  more “queer” practice.

Queer People of Color Conference 2013

E-Portfolio Entry

Activity Name & Description

Queer People of Color Conference 2013

The 2013 Queer People of Color Conference was held  at California State University, Fullerton on April 6! Please save the date! The theme for this year is To Exist is to Resist: Empowering our Roots Through Activism, Community, and Intersectionality. The Queer People of Color Conference aims to empower queer communities of color by providing them with the tools, spaces, and dialogue to empower themselves. We aim to do this through proactive engagement and critical analysis. The Queer People of Color movement is not simply a reactive movement; it is a proactive movement that focuses on creating and analyzing our own spaces so that we are able to understand and help our communities.

This year’s theme To Exist is to Resist was chosen because of the parallels between the struggles queer communities of color face and the Palestinian struggle. Our movement has been co-opted, often our voices have been left unheard, and we are fighting this. This is not to say the struggles are the same because they are not, but we feel as though we can relate to the same dynamic. Queer communities of color are part of the struggle of occupied peoples. And even though we face innumerable odds, even though we struggle against imperialism, sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, and ableism we continue to struggle. In the same manner, Palestinian resistance opposes imperialism, Islamophobia, racism and the constant threat of genocide. In the face of all of this, the Palestinian people stand strong in their struggle. They are constantly told to give up, and asked why they stay when it is so hard to do so. They answer “To Exist is to Resist,” if they leave they abandon their people, their land, their culture. It’s when communities stop trying that they are defeated. To utilize a quote that El Centro Cultural de Mexico in the heart of Santa Ana (who also understand gentrification and imperialism): Cuando la cultura muere, la gente muere. We feel that queer communities of color understand the importance of the struggle and the difficulty of continuing that struggle so we referenced the Palestinian struggle so that we can persevere and celebrate ourselves despite all adversity.

In the Fall Semsester of my Graduate Assistantship, my supervisor tasked me to work as a mentor and co-programmer for the Queer People of Color Club at CSUF. My role was to help advise, mentor, co-plan and offer advice on the Spring Semester People of Color Conference. This all day conference would welcome different queer college students of color throughout the country. Mostly a regional conference, this year we had over 30 delegations and over 15 workshops. My role developed as a lead co-facilitator of the conference where I would assist in any way that I could to make the conference a success.

Date/Semester

 April 6th, 2013, (Spring Semester)

Learning Domains Addressed (Labels)

X Leadership
X Social Justice & Advocacy

XEducation

o Assessment & Evaluation
X Personal Development

Learning Outcomes

Student will be able to integrate 3 different student development and college impact theories/strategies while helping the Queer People of Color Club plan for the Conference.

SWiBAT utilize strengths both as representing a LGBTQ student of Color and paraprofessional leader in this programming event.  Student will assume at least three different leadership roles.

SWiBAT recall 5 different learning experiences while attending the conference   

Assessment Rubric (One Per Learning Outcome)

Rubric: HEAT WEEK

	SLO #1 – Integrating college impact theories/strategies into mentor role.	SLO #2 – Identifying 3 different leadership roles in preparing and implementation of the Conference	SLO #3 –Identifying Learning Experiences
Advanced	I will be able to use several different college impact theories/ strategies into mentor role.	I will be able to utilize and identify several leadership roles as I prepare and implement the conference.	I will be able to identify several learning experiences as a result of planning and attending the Conference.
Competent	I will be able to use three different college impact theories/ strategies into mentor role.	I will be able to utilize and identify three leadership roles as I prepare and implement the conference.	I will be able to identify three learning experiences as a result of planning and attending the Conference.
Basic	I will be able to use two different college impact theories/ strategies into mentor role.	I will be able to utilize and  identify two leadership roles as I prepare and implement the conference.	I will be able to identify two learning experiences as a result of planning and attending the Conference.
Poor	I will be unable to use any college impact theories/ strategies into mentor role.	I will be unable to utilize any leadership roles as I prepare and implement the conference.	I will be unable to identify several learning experiences as a result of planning and attending the Conference.

 

 

Evidence

            For my first learning outcome, I was able to multiple college impact/student development theories and strategies as my role as a mentor for the Queer People of Color Club as we prepared and implemented the conference. Once again I was able to connect the concept of intersectionality to the overall theme of the conference. ‘Intersectionality refers to the interaction between gender, race, and other categories of difference in individual lives, social practices, institutional arrangements, and cultural ideologies and the outcomes of these interactions in terms of power” (Crenshaw, 1991). Using this theory was another over-arching theme for the program, I worked to create conversations in our weekly meeting to make sure that this concept would not only be thought about in our meetings but to make sure that our workshops and mission aligned with creating space to uncover and discuss different layers of self. As we understood our different roles in the planning team, I helped the students understand some of the important theories surrounding the history of people of color.

            Another theory that I think I continually utilized was Rendon’s, Validation Theory. “When validation is present, students feel capable of learning; they experience a feeling of self worth and feel that they, and everything that they bring to the college experience are accepted and recognized as valuable” (Rendon, 1995,p. 44). To utilize this theory in practice, I wanted to make sure that we create a space that validated not only the student-programming team, but the conference as a whole. We wanted to create a space for learning through acknowledging the strengths of Queer students of color. We wanted this space to validate them by giving them a forum where their experiences mattered. My personal hope was to make sure that learning would occur in the workshops because all conference attendees would feel accepted and their voices would count here. This wasn’t a space for silence, but of bridging the gaps and creating spaces to feel empowered and wanted.

            Another theory that I utilized when working with the Queer People of Color Club was the Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity (Jones & McEwan, 2000). The concept of the model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity, “This conceptual model suggests the importance of understanding the complexities of identity development. Student affairs educators must not presume what is most central to individuals, but must instead listen for how a person sees herself,” (Jones & McEwan, 2000, p.412). Using the Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity, I wanted to make sure that students were able to authentically speak with me about their core selves in a way that gave them a sense of empowerment. I wanted to be that encouraged students to explore their identity as they deemed most central to their core selves.

For the second learning outcome, I found I took different roles in the conference assisting in these different areas:

Leadership Roles

(1) Co-Mentor

(2) Co-Advisor

(3) Co-Programmer

(4) Facilitator of Queer Multicultural Caucus

(5) Co-Supervisor

(6) Event Planner

(7) Social Justice Advocate

(8) Effective Communicator and Presenter

(9) Reflective Scholar-Practitioner

For my last learning outcome, I found a few key learning experiences:

Learning Experiences

(1) Having a supportive supervisor that believes in you is essential to my own growth and development, when I needed help in the different aspects of helping to organize this conference.

(2) Give students the time they need to discuss their goals, wants and needs. It’s “ok” for me to recognize places of growth, but work with them on the issues that they want to grow and develop and offer different opportunities to show them different strategies they may also need.

(3) It’s ok to take a back-seat role, this conference wasn’t necessarily about me leading and being a “frontman,” it was about giving students opportunities to lead and setting the stage for growth and development.

(4) Conferences are not easy to plan, but if you have stakeholders that believe in the mission of the Conference everything will get sorted out

(5) You have to creatively shift and change programming strategies as new information becomes available to you.

(6) You never know how much you can continually learn from students, peers, colleagues and past organizers working in the field. There are so many opportunities to learn and gain wisdom from other Queer professionals. I really had the opportunity to look at places where I can learn more about myself as a Queer Student Affairs Professional.

           

For additional evidence, I listed the websites and some pictures from the Conference:

https://www.facebook.com/qpocc2013?ref=ts&fref=ts

http://qpocc2013.org/about.html

http://www.dailytitan.com/2013/03/gender-neutral-bathrooms/

http://www.dailytitan.com/2013/04/conference/

Reflection 

Upon reflecting on the Queer People of Color Conference, I was able to learn more about my role as a Queer Professional. I learned that it takes a certain kind of passion and drive to work with students that share many similar backgrounds as you do. This was very rewarding because not only did I try to create a space for students to validate each other, I was validated by a lot of the students’ experiences on what it is like to be a Queer Student of Color.

            In my undergraduate career, I have had many different opportunities to display my expertise in a leadership role. This was an interesting transition to take a “backseat role,” and let students assess some of their strengths, failures and issues that arose and provide them with feedback and tools instead of taking over their learning by “fixing their issues.” I’m still learning that I don’t have to solve students’ problems but be apart of the “challenging and supporting them, so that they can own their development.

Reference:

Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and

violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review,43(6), 1241–1299. Retrieved from: http://multipleidentitieslgbtq.wiki.westga.edu/file/view/Crenshaw1991.pdf

Jones, S., & McEwan, K. (2000). A conceptual model of multiple dimensions of

identity. Journal of College Student Development, 41(4), 405-414. Retrieved from: http://emergentrecovery.com/uploads/Conceptual_Model_of_Multiple_Dimensions_of_Identity.pdf

Rendon, L. (1994). Validating culturally diverse students: Toward a new model of

learning and student development. Innovative Higher Education, 19(1), 33-51