Bringing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion No Matter the Weather

If you want to find out what fostering a sense of belonging can look like, you need not go any farther than a NOVA college classroom, NOVA office or even a stairwell in a NOVA building! The Office of DEI and the Community College Initiative (CCI) Program came together to help expand the college’s commitment to building a sense of belonging and honor our core value of inclusion.

Sherrene DeLong, DEI events coordinator experienced her first time teaching in a stairwell due to an unexpected occurrence! Toward the end of her August 14 workshop, DEI-101: A Gentle and Practical Introduction to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, NOVA’s Office of Emergency Management and Safety (OEMS) issued a tornado warning for all campuses. So, DEI-101 workshop participants had to leave class and take shelter in a stairwell!

Safely seated in the ‘classroom of steps,’ international students in the Community College Initiative (CCI) Program continued to engage and learn about microaggressions and other diversity-related information despite the unexpected interruption. During convocation, we learned that belonging takes hard work to establish building blocks (or steps) of trust. CCI international students appreciated Sherrene’s willingness to provide an interactive session at NOVA filled with challenging, impactful context and helpful resources to navigate studying in the U.S.

Some of the CCI students provided the following takeaway comments about the DEI-101 workshop:

• “Learned that respect and empathy are important.”
• “Not all cultures had/have equal starting points.”
• “An amazing workbook design with helpful and friendly information.”

Take a moment to read the CCI Media Press Release describing the program:  NOVA Celebrates International Exchange Day and Honors Incoming CCI Participants – Northern Virginia Community College (nvcc.edu).

To learn more about scheduling a DEI-101 workshop, please contact Sherrene at sdelong@nvcc.edu. To learn more about the amazing international students who are present on our campuses this semester, please connect with Min Young Jun, OIESP Program Coordinator at mjun@nvcc.edu.

Submitted by:
Mia Harper, DEI-Associate Director, MHarper@nvcc.edu