DEI Common Read Processing Space is Coming to Annandale, Today at 3

The DEI Common Read is an opportunity for all NOVA students, staff and faculty, across all six campuses and online, to read a book together! Members of the Office of DEI and the campus libraries have been tabling at NOVA Days this month, giving out copies of our DEI Common Read, Just Mercy. When we use this opening line, the faces of our students light up, and they pull out their phones to register and receive their book. Our community is longing for a sense of belonging, and reading a book together is one practical way to foster this sense of belonging at NOVA.

We’ve now surpassed 850 books given out to faculty, staff and students. Have you picked up your book yet? If you have (or even if you haven’t), please join Sherrene DeLong and Erica Phillips as we process what we’re reading together.

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Office of Wellness and Mental Health are partnering to offer processing spaces for the NOVA community to reflect on what we are reading. Great books can be tough books, and we want to make sure we are providing community time to talk through some of the inspirational and challenging themes of the book.

Processing spaces will occur weekly, rotating around NOVA campuses and online. You can find the schedule via the DEI Common Read Canvas Course. Click “Start Here” to find a fall reading guide to finish the book before finals, and the full processing spaces calendar with Zoom links.

This week, we are meeting in the Annandale Library (CFH) today from 3 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. Bring your book and meet us there for casual conversation and a greater sense of connectedness here at NOVA.

Submitted by:
Sherrene DeLong, DEI-Events Coordinator, SDeLong@nvcc.edu