Diversity Statement

I was raised in southern Oregon. By nearly all accounts, that part of Oregon is not very culturally diverse. As my awareness has improved, I’ve realized that my understanding of the world was quite limited, especially as it relates to race and ethnicity. I used to think of racism as simply the wrongness of showing prejudice toward someone based on the color of their skin. For instance, I knew it was wrong for my grandmother to openly use racist language. I chalked much of her perspective up to her experiences from World War II and where our nation’s culture was at the time. I took comfort knowing I was more open minded than her. Though, it is humbling now to admit that, up until the last third of my life, I have been living with a significantly white centered mindset.

In 2010, I started my master’s program in Education Technology where I was encouraged to consider diversity, equity, and inclusion in, not only educational content, but also instructional design and assessment. I leaned how to create equitable, inclusive, and accessible learning environments. It was during that time that I started to realize my privilege. At first, I was dismissive that I was privileged at all. I believed that working my way out of poverty was evidence enough that I was not privileged. Like most people, I did not just wake up one day understanding my biases, my privilege, and my responsibility to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Most of my education, training, and experiences about DEI has had to be purposeful. I say “most” because some realizations have happened naturally as my world view has expanded. I realized my privilege of being white, middle-class, cisgender male, educated, heterosexual, tall, and able-bodied.

I started to learn more about racism, white privilege, and power. I also learned about the systemic racism in Oregon and the reality that my community was just as ignorant about diversity as the communities around the nation that were experiencing major uprisings. As I started to learn more, I felt uncomfortable. My white fragility rose to the surface, and I tried to avoid discussions that might reviled my own ignorance and bias. That all changed the first day of class in my doctorate program. The first activity was for everyone to introduce themselves. I was the only one of two straight white men in the group. While the first activity did not intimidate me, the second one did. The discussion was about our experiences with racism and what it meant to us. When it was my turn to share, I confessed that I did not feel equipped to speak knowledgeably about the subject. The room erupted, with one of my peers saying that, as a while man, I had a responsibility to contribute. He said that I should use my privilege to inform others because my words would be listened to by the people who need to understand the most. I still hear my friend’s challenge in the back of my head as a reminder to continue learning and sharing.

Since then, I have continued to expand my world view and understanding of DEI. I’ve done considerable research and written papers on the topics of equity and implicit bias in my doctoral studies. I have participated in many learning opportunities about DEI, including attending events like the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) and numerous institutions sponsored activities. I also went through the Oregon State University search advocate training. At Clackamas Community College (CCC), we adopted an equitable decision-making framework, which I use to define the reasons for making leadership decisions and how those decisions align with the college’s mission, values, and DEI. I used the framework and what I learned from the advocate training to incorporate DEI themes and inclusive content (language, imagery, and scenarios) as we redeveloped a leadership curriculum for business and industry partners. I also used the framework to make programming decisions specific to how those decisions impacted and mitigated barriers for systemically non-dominant groups. I ensured that multiple perspectives were included in curriculum content and the design was more inclusive. The goal was to create a better sense of belonging in classrooms. I regularly lead discussions with my team about current events around diversity and fortified our commitment to more inclusive and equitable practices. I encouraged open dialog about our values and how we could create a culturally competent and supportive environment where students and employees could model more responsible behavior. I also examined a few department policies to determine how my own power and privilege might have affected their purpose and intent.

I am continuously learning about DEI and how I can improve my awareness, my thoughts, and my actions –even my unconscious bias. For many reasons, including the culture and system I live in, learning about DEI has not been easy. Regretfully, I still make mistakes. I still catch myself saying “you guys” and referring to women as “gals.” I find some comfort in knowing even those whom we regard as experts make the same mistakes. I try to surround myself with people who can help me improve and who show me grace as I learn. We are in an age where there are constant reminders about our societal failures. I feel fortunate to be in a place where I can see those reminders as opportunities for us all to do better. Hopefully, I can use my own identity privilege, position, and power to make positive cultural, social, and political context changes in a professional capacity.