This is a strange time as well as a unique opportunity to build community, establish connections, and provide a sense of belonging. As you can imagine, connecting to one another in the midst of a pandemic is very difficult as we strive to stay apart for our personal safety and the greater good of our community. As you know, this was not always our reality. Our university community has a history of engaging in hard conversations, celebrating break throughs, and re-imagining Texas State University as a place where we are all valued in our chosen identities. This Showcase is just a snapshot of all the wonderful diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and activities that take place at Texas State University every year. We wanted to capture these moments in videos that you could go back and watch over and over. As you can see, we have a lot to celebrate. I want to thank everyone who submitted a video and contributed to the story of who we are. I hope you found, just as I did, that we are a community that values our connections to one another.
Institutional Inclusive Excellence joins our colleagues in cultivating these connections. One of the ways we do this is through our Capacity Building Action Plan which documents and measures our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Additionally, Bring It Up Bobcats, our bias reporting protocol, offers support for university community members who have experienced or witnessed a bias incident. Our Bobcat JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) program helps shine a light on the wonderful and innovative training that are offered across our campuses and also provides recognition in the form of a Certificate of Completion. The Diversity Hiring Toolkit provides resources for hiring managers to assist them in our endeavor to recruit and retain a more diverse Texas State faculty and staff. And, the Texas State Diversity Calendar provides our Texas State community members an opportunity to share information and communicate about our diversity and inclusion programs.
I am deeply grateful to the Institutional Inclusive Excellence staff, specifically Annalisa Turner, who spearheaded this project along with assistance from Carol Alvarez, our Administrative Assistant, Cleighton Schedule, our Graduate Assistant, and Ahmad Islam, our student worker.
We look forward to highlighting many more diversity and inclusion related programs, activities, and events next year. Have a wonderful semester!
