Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Wright State University’s Residence Life and Housing staff has introduced plans for new anti-racism and social justice training and education for this summer and the fall semester.
Faculty and student staff will participate in workshops and monthly discussions and re-evaluate existing policies for students.
Beginning these efforts, this summer the staff is reading “How To Be An Anti-Racist” by Ibram X. Kendi.
Jennifer Attenweiler, associate director of Residence Life, said she hopes the book can help the staff be better activists and allies for Wright State’s black students.
“I wanted to challenge our professional staff and their thought process on what their own implicit biases may be,” Attenweiler said. “After that, this fall, we’re committed to challenging our students, when they return, to examine their beliefs, their own privilege and their bias.”
Savannah-Rae Jackson, a senior at Wright State, president of the school organization Black Women Striving Forward and Resident Advisor (RA), said she thinks the new initiatives will be helpful as long as individuals apply what they learn.
“I am pleased with what Resident Life is doing,” Jackson said. “Even though I have the black experience, there’s still more knowledge that I could learn, so these resources are helpful.”
