Why do we GATHER to kindle radical hope?
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) related change work in higher education is challenging and failure-prone. Faculty change agents—who commonly have expertise and experience in areas other than organizational change or power dynamics—are at risk of isolation, disillusionment, and giving up in the face of missteps, which are expected when such complex work is approached from an underprepared, idealistic, understaffed, naive, or side-project stance. Indeed, faculty cannot generally do more side projects or take on more work, but instead, need to resist grind culture and open up space to think deeply and in healing- and preventive ways. If we don't equip change agents with the information and inspiration they need, connected to their core expertises and experiences, and in ways that resource them to act, reflect, learn, and teach others, our institutions and disciplinary fields will continue to sustain oppression and injustice. We need to hold fast to radical hope, to work in ways that are strategic-and-creative, that inspire and imagine justly-designed systems, working as a community to be a more humane and satisfying place to engage.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. 2236374 and 2236163. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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