MyLU Insider

Diversity and Inclusion

Category: Diversity and Inclusion

New gender inclusive restrooms

Dear Campus Community,

In the spring of this year, the Lawrence University Common Council (LUCC) passed a Gender Inclusive Facilities Resolution, calling for changing 33-66% of restrooms on campus to gender inclusive (varying by building ability and use). The resolution and results of a recent student poll make it evident that the Lawrence Community is strongly in favor of increasing the number and quality of gender inclusive restroom facilities across campus. In response to the resolution and in support of Lawrence’s commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion at all levels and in all spaces in our community, implementation of these changes has begun.

A baseline review of all restrooms on campus was conducted over the summer showing that eleven academic buildings and residence halls fell short of 33%. Meetings were held with building occupants, and recommendations were made and presented to Cabinet a few weeks ago. The changes in these buildings will involve only signage at this point. This is a fluid process in which retrofits to existing restrooms may happen over time but are not possible now. Signage will depict fixtures in each room such as toilet, urinal, shower and ADA accessibility. Additional temporary signs will be placed at each restroom, indicating the locations of the closest gender binary restrooms. Some signs are already in place, and the remaining signs will be installed on Thursday and Friday, September 26th and 27th, marking the official redesignation of each facility.

Current gender binary restrooms changing to gender inclusive are:

  • Briggs: 2nd and 3rd floor men’s rooms
  • Wellness Center: 2nd and 3rd floor men’s rooms
  • Main Hall: 3rd floor women’s and men’s (1st floor restroom will revert to a women’s facility)
  • Steitz: 3rd floor and lower level men’s
  • Youngchild: 2nd floor men’s
  • Library: 3rd floor women’s and men’s
  • Warch: 2nd floor women’s and men’s during the school year
  • Music Drama: Shattuck lower level, women’s and men’s
  • Brokaw: 3rd floor men’s, 4th floor men’s changes to GI and women’s changes to men’s
  • Sage: 2nd and 3rd floor women’s and men’s
  • Colman North: 1st floor women’s by 126, 1st floor men’s by 121 changes to women’s

Click for the complete list of all gender inclusive restrooms on the Lawrence University campus

Please contact me with any questions or thoughts as we move forward with these changes. We are open to feedback that informs the Lawrence community about any improvement we can make to support an inclusive environment for everyone.

Christopher Lee – Vice President for Finance and Administration

Accessibility as Inclusiveness–A Cultural Competency Lecture

On Tuesday, September 24, Lawrence’s Instructional Designer Jedidiah Rex and Senior Web Developer/Systems Analyst Jay Dansand will open this year’s Cultural Competency Lecture Series with a talk focused on “Accessibility as Inclusiveness.”  Please join them at 11:15 in Mead Witter.

Together, they will explore what it means for Lawrence to be an inclusive community—and how we can create access and inclusion on campus for those with disabilities.  By shedding light on challenges faced by those with disabilities and sharing what they are doing in each of their contexts, the presenters will prompt the audience to invest in making Lawrence a more welcoming place. 

To learn more about the lecture series or to RSVP for the event, visit Diversity and Inclusion’s website.

This event is free and open to the public.

TWO FILMS, ONE EVENT. – Los Sueños de Anita and The Unafraid.

On Thursday, September 26, all are invited to the Warch Cinema to immerse themselves in the lives of “illegals” through the film The Unafraid (screening begins at 4:30) and the virtual reality experience Los Sueños de Anita (running from 3 to 4:15 and 7 to 8 p.m.). 

Los Sueños de Anita is a virtual reality experience that immerses viewers into the life of two undocumented parents as they raise their young daughter Anita and face struggles much too familiar to the community.

The Unafraid – Follow the personal lives of three DACA students in Georgia, as they take on activism in a state that has banned them from attending their top state universities and disqualifies them from receiving in-state tuition at any other public college. The screening starts at 4:30 with a Community Conversation and short survey afterward, and viewing the virtual reality piece will be available again until 8 p.m.

Brought to you by the LU Film Studies Program, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, the Diversity and Intercultural Center, the Appleton Dignity & Respect Campaign, and ESTHER.  

Both are free and open to the public. 

Why I’m Joyce: A Talk with Smithsonian Visionary Artist Joyce Scott

Joyce J. Scott is an African-American artist, sculptor, quilter, performance artist, installation artist, print-maker, lecturer and educator known for her figurative sculptures and jewelry using free form, off-loom bead weaving techniques, similar to a peyote stitch.

Scott was recognized in 2016 as a MacArthur Foundation Fellow and named a Smithsonian Visionary Artist in 2019. Her work is included in the current exhibition, “Reflecting Perspectives: Artists Confront Issues of Diversity and Inclusion,” at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass.

Please join us for her talk at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 19 in the Warch Campus Center’s Cinema. A reception will follow from 8:30 until 9:30 in the Pusey Room.

This event is free and open to the public.

Join us for the first Cultural Competency Lecture of the 2019-2020 academic year!

Jedidiah Rex and Jay Dansand will address the topic of “Accessibility as Inclusiveness” on Tuesday, September 24, from 11:15 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center’s Mead Witter room.

Their talk will address questions surrounding what it means to be an inclusive community and how we can create access and inclusion on campus for those with disabilities.

By shedding light on challenges faced by those with disabilities and sharing what they are doing in each of their contexts, the presenters will prompt the audience to invest in making Lawrence a more welcoming place. 

Learn more and RSVP for this event through our website: https://www.lawrence.edu/info/offices/diversity-and-inclusion/get-involved/cultural-competency-lecture-series

Webinar: “The Confounding Promise of Community”

On Thursday, September 19 from 3:00-5:00 p.m., faculty and staff are welcome to join Dr. Kimberly Barrett for a webinar on “The Confounding Promise of Community: Why It Matters More Than Ever for Student Success,” offered by the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) designed to question the role of community in the liberal arts education and how community can contribute to student success. 

Webinar participants will examine community as a concept, an outcome, and an entity in order to better understand emerging definitions of community, ongoing efforts to create inclusive pathways for engagement, and ways community-based practices can advance inclusive excellence. 

After learning from presenters representing multiple institutional perspectives about how a collective understanding of community can shape a commitment to equity and student success, we can begin to apply what we learn to Lawrence’s campus. This webinar will guide us as we consider ways in which a strengthened sense of community can enhance individuals’ sense of belonging in ways that help us move toward meeting our goals of institutional excellence.

The webinar will take place in Warch Campus Center’s Arthur Vining Davis Room. 

Please RSVP to emily.s.bowles@lawrence.edu prior to the event or by visiting our website: http://www.lawrence.edu/mm/14326

Anti-Racist Summer Book Club

August 14 at 2:00 pm in Sabin House living room

ARWAG (the Anti-Racist White Affinity Group) is hosting a summer community read for LU staff and faculty interested in reading and discussing novels written by authors of color and centering the experiences of people of color. On August 14 we’ll continue our discussion of Tommy Orange’s NYT bestselling debut novel There There, and work on connecting our “aha!” moments from the book to application here in our Lawrence community.

“Tommy Orange’s shattering novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to each other in ways they may not yet realize. There is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and working to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, who is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death, has come to work at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil has come to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American—grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism. Hailed as an instant classic, There There is at once poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, utterly contemporary and always unforgettable.” (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563403/there-there-by-tommy-orange/9780525436140/)

What is ARWAG? A gathering of Lawrence staff and faculty seeking to understand and challenge racism. Recognizing that anti-racist work is disproportionately borne by people of color, ARWAG is a setting for white people to take responsibility for educating ourselves about racism and for challenging white supremacy from the inside. Organized as a study group, ARWAG will read and discuss materials that help us understand how racism operates, especially in its insidious forms that are harder for white people to notice in action—white privilege, unconscious / implicit bias, and structural racism. ARWAG welcomes colleagues at every stage of learning—whether you’re an experienced anti-racist or just beginning to grapple with the realities of racism.

For more information on this and other ARWAG events, please contact ARWAG co-convener Jenna Stone (jennifer.stone@lawrence.edu) or Emily Bowles in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (emily.s.bowles@lawrence.edu).

Anti-Racist Summer Book Club

July 31 at 2:00 pm in Sabin House living room

ARWAG (the Anti-Racist White Affinity Group) is hosting a summer community read for LU staff and faculty interested in reading and discussing novels written by authors of color and centering the experiences of people of color. On July 31 we’ll be discussing Tommy Orange’s NYT bestselling debut novel There There. “Tommy Orange’s shattering novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to each other in ways they may not yet realize. There is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and working to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, who is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death, has come to work at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil has come to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American—grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism. Hailed as an instant classic, There There is at once poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, utterly contemporary and always unforgettable.” (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563403/there-there-by-tommy-orange/9780525436140/)

What is ARWAG? A gathering of Lawrence staff and faculty seeking to understand and challenge racism. Recognizing that anti-racist work is disproportionately borne by people of color, ARWAG is a setting for white people to take responsibility for educating ourselves about racism and for challenging white supremacy from the inside. Organized as a study group, ARWAG will read and discuss materials that help us understand how racism operates, especially in its insidious forms that are harder for white people to notice in action—white privilege, unconscious / implicit bias, and structural racism. ARWAG welcomes colleagues at every stage of learning—whether you’re an experienced anti-racist or just beginning to grapple with the realities of racism.

For more information on this and other ARWAG events, please contact ARWAG co-convener Jenna Stone (jennifer.stone@lawrence.edu) or Emily Bowles in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (emily.s.bowles@lawrence.edu).

Anti-Racist Summer Book Club

July 31 at 2:00 pm in Sabin House living room

ARWAG (the Anti-Racist White Affinity Group) is hosting a summer community read for LU staff and faculty interested in reading and discussing novels written by authors of color and centering the experiences of people of color.

On July 31 we’ll be discussing Tommy Orange’s NYT bestselling debut novel There There. “Tommy Orange’s shattering novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to each other in ways they may not yet realize. There is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and working to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, who is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death, has come to work at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil has come to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American—grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism. Hailed as an instant classic, There There is at once poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, utterly contemporary and always unforgettable.” (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563403/there-there-by-tommy-orange/9780525436140/)

What is ARWAG? A gathering of Lawrence staff and faculty seeking to understand and challenge racism. Recognizing that anti-racist work is disproportionately borne by people of color, ARWAG is a setting for white people to take responsibility for educating ourselves about racism and for challenging white supremacy from the inside. Organized as a study group, ARWAG will read and discuss materials that help us understand how racism operates, especially in its insidious forms that are harder for white people to notice in action—white privilege, unconscious / implicit bias, and structural racism. ARWAG welcomes colleagues at every stage of learning—whether you’re an experienced anti-racist or just beginning to grapple with the realities of racism.

For more information on this and other ARWAG events, please contact ARWAG co-convener Jenna Stone (jennifer.stone@lawrence.edu) or Emily Bowles in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (emily.s.bowles@lawrence.edu).

Anti-Racist Summer Book Club

July 10 at 1:00 pm in Sabin House living room

ARWAG (the Anti-Racist White Affinity Group) is hosting a summer community read for LU staff and faculty interested in reading and discussing novels written by authors of color and centering the experiences of people of color. On July 10 we’ll be discussing Jennine Capó Crucet’s novel Make Your Home Among Strangers. This celebrated debut novel tells the story of Lizet, a first-generation Cuban American and first-gen college student who enrolls in an elite college and faces new challenges navigating issues of privilege, identity, belonging, and competing priorities of school and family.

What is ARWAG? A gathering of Lawrence staff and faculty seeking to understand and challenge racism. Recognizing that anti-racist work is disproportionately borne by people of color, ARWAG is a setting for white people to take responsibility for educating ourselves about racism and for challenging white supremacy from the inside. Organized as a study group, ARWAG will read and discuss materials that help us understand how racism operates, especially in its insidious forms that are harder for white people to notice in action—white privilege, unconscious / implicit bias, and structural racism. ARWAG welcomes colleagues at every stage of learning—whether you’re an experienced anti-racist or just beginning to grapple with the realities of racism.

For more information on this and other ARWAG events, please contact ARWAG co-convener Jenna Stone (jennifer.stone@lawrence.edu) or Emily Bowles in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (emily.s.bowles@lawrence.edu).