Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Feature by: Dr. John Johnson, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion

Whitman College is part of the Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance (LACRELA). Through LACRELA we have partnered with the USC Race and Equity Center, to administer the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates (NACCC).

The NACCC is an assessment of campus racial climates, which is not to diminish other identity categories, but recognizes the complexity of identity and the unique manner in which race operates in the workplace and interacts with other identities. In 2021, Whitman administered the student version of the NACCC and last spring our staff completed a modified version of that survey. A summary of the student results is available online and a summary report of the NACCC staff results will be released to the campus later this month. 

The NACCC poses questions that allow us to focus on the racialized nature of higher education spaces and how it is experienced by staff of color. The NACCC includes measures of Workplace Mattering, Workplace Equity, Racial Learning and Literacy, Encounters with Racial Stress, Appraisals of Institutional Commitment, and Impact of External Environments. The work of education scholars such as Daniel Solarzano, Alma Flores, Bettina Love and several others point to the way that predominantly white academic institutions can enact climates that function as spaces of harm for people of color who are routinely exposed to microaggressions and various indignities that undermine their overall health. Our ability to be excellent as an institution is tied to our ability to be diverse. If our climate conditions result in the inability to recruit and retain diverse students, faculty or staff, excellence will elude us.

More than 74% of Whitman staff provided responses to the NACCC staff survey last year. We hope to see an even higher response rate among the faculty. All faculty members at Whitman College have responsibility and accountability in creating an environment where everyone feels safe, welcomed and included. The survey takes 20 minutes to complete and each faculty member should have received a unique link to access the survey. Faculty should check their inbox and possibly their spam folder for an email from helpdesk@nacccsurvey.org. Have your voice heard about the racial climate on campus. Complete the NACCC today!

A research project co-lead by Professor of Biology Tim Parker is generating a lot of interest. Parker’s co-authored article titled “Same data, different analysts: variation in effect sizes due to analytical decisions in ecology and evolutionary biology” reports on a study in which 174 analyst teams found substantially different answers to prespecified research questions using the same set of data. The article was downloaded more than 8,000 times in the first week and has since been reported on in Nature and The Conversation.

The Staff Advisory Council is holding drop-in hours throughout the Fall semester for all staff to learn about the work in progress, share feedback and get to know staff representatives. The next open office hours will be today from 4–5 p.m. at Penrose House Office 101, hosted by Veronica Ortiz, a bilingual representative who speaks English and Spanish. 

Whitman College employees are invited to attend a free webinar about Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) on Thursday, Nov. 9 at noon. With an FSA you can save up to 30 percent by using pre-tax dollars to pay for eligible health care or dependent care expenses. Please register in advance. 

Spokane Ensemble Theatre will present the one-actor play “According to Coyote” by John Kauffman on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. at Harper Joy Theatre. This touring production features dramatic storytelling by Nez Perce actor Kellen Trenal (“Reservation Dogs”) about Coyote, a legendary hero of American Indian mythology. Admission is free and open to the public. (See attached flyer.)

The 2023–2024 Visiting Writers Reading Series continues with Robyn Schiff on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. in Kimball Theatre at Hunter Conservatory. Schiff is the author of four poetry collections and was the recipient of the 2023 Joseph Brodsky Rome Prize at the American Academy in Rome. (See attached flyer.) 

Both of Whitman’s men’s and women’s swimming teams opened their season with back-to-back Northwest Conference wins, first against Pacific, and then against George Fox.

Noon

QConnect: LGBTQIA+ Discussion Group

Cleveland Commons, Lizzie Murr Conference Room

Noon

Quantifying Trust: How Many Fishermen Should There Be?

Maxey Hall, Room 207

12:10–12:50 p.m.

Movement That Matters: Stretch & Strength

Sherwood Athletic Center

3–5 p.m.

Open Office Hours: Off-Campus Studies

Memorial Building, Room 205

4 p.m.

Big Tent Gathering: Buddhists

Reid Campus Center, All Faiths Room

4 p.m.

Open Office Hours: Staff Advisory Council

Penrose House, Office 101

6 p.m.

Upcycling Workshop: Akiko Gilmore

Reid Campus Center, Young Ballroom

7 p.m.

KnitWhits Club

Cleveland Commons

7 p.m.

Pathfinders for Health? Native American, Diabetes, and the Shifting Ecologies of Disease

Olin Auditorium

8–10 p.m.

Open Kayak

Harvey Pool

Would you like to share an event with campus? Submit the information to the Events Calendar.

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