Land Acknowledgement
As members of the Washtenaw Community College community, we humbly acknowledge that the campus occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of diverse native peoples. The taking of this land was formalized, in a process alien to native cultures, by the Treaty of Detroit in 1807, with the Anishinaabe (ä-ni-shi-ˈnȯ-bā), including the Odawa, Ojibwe (ō-ˈjib- wā) and Potawatomi (pätəˈwätəmē), and with the Wyandot (wī-ən-ˌdät). Many other native peoples lived on this land at different times including the Fox, Sauk ( ˈsȯk ), Shawnee ( shȯ-ˈnē ), Kickapoo ( ˈkikəˌpü ), Miami (mē-ä-mē), Musketoon ( ˌməskəˈtün ), and Cherokee ( ˈcher-ə- ˌkē ).
Since the origin of the college in 1965, we have benefited from the use of this land where we work and study, and from its life, beauty, and spirit. We recognize our responsibility to understand and care for this land, and we honor, with our deepest gratitude, the native people who have stewarded it for generations.
Acknowledgment by itself is a small gesture. But let this step be an opening to greater public consciousness of Native history, sovereignty and cultural rights, and a step toward equitable relationship and reconciliation.
By The Sustainability Literacy Task Force (2021)
Professional Development
Please visit KALPA and check out uploaded webinars by filtering for Diversity & Inclusion. Here are just a few to get you started below:
Equity in Education: Social Identities & Socialization
Join Randy Bennett (Advising) & Hava Levitt-Phillips (FPD) for part one of this four-part
series. We’ll look at Bobbie Haro’s Cycle of Socialization and our own social identities
as we explore the ways our lived experiences impact the way we show up in our work,
both with colleagues and students. Taking a deeper dive into the impact of media,
school, support systems, and other institutions in society, participants will gain
deeper insight into the ways social systems impact our perception of ourselves and
each other.
Equity in Education: Dialogue as a Tool for Inclusion
Join Randy Bennett (Advising) & Hava Levitt-Phillips for part two of this four-part series. We’ll look at the differences between dialogue, debate, and discussion, while reflecting upon which of these forms of communication show up most often in our professional spaces, and the resulting impact. Using dialogue as a framework, participants will explore the benefits of dialogue in creating a more inclusive and equitable environment in the classroom & with colleagues.
Equity in Education: Showing Up
Join Randy Bennett (Advising) & Hava Levitt-Phillips (FPD) for part three of this four-part series. We’ll focus our energy around showing up for social justice. We will look at common fears that have prevented us in the past from showing up for conversations around social injustices, as well as examine Bobbie Haro’s Cycle of Liberation to explore ways we can begin to break the cycle of complacency in our professional and personal lives.
Equity in Education: Skills for Dialogue
Join Randy Bennett (Advising) & Hava Levitt-Phillips for the fourth and final-part of this series. Participants will be provided tools to help better navigate their own responses to challenging conversations presented in the classroom and with colleagues. Participants will better learn how to respond to harm and conflict when brought into personal and professional spaces, and will gain a deeper understanding of what moving into action and liberation looks like.
Policies & Procedures
WCC has several policies to make it clear discrimination is not permitted on campus grounds. Below are several policies for review as all statements are directly from the Board of Trustees Policy Manual.
For federal and state laws offering legal protections, see Legal Protections.
Policy 2005: Admissions Policy
Policy 4095: Student Rights, Responsibilities & Conduct Code
Policy 5081: Prohibiting Discriminatory Harassment
Policy 5010: Affirmative Action
Policy 8028: Access, Success & Equity for Diverse People
The Instructional Division expects all students, staff and faculty to uphold Board Policy 8028 - Policy on Access, Success and Equity for Diverse People, which aims to promote the awareness and appreciation of cultural differences and commonalties among students, community and staff groups -- seeking to build community, unity and learning. Recognizing the growing diversity among our students, staff, and the communities we serve, the college will strive to prepare for a future in which we celebrate the differences in people -- a future in which we not only recognize but realize the benefits of our diversity.
Students have the right to express their thoughts and opinions without fear of reprisal (Freedom of Speech and Expression). Student evaluation shall be determined on an academic basis, not on opinions or conduct in matters unrelated to academic standards. Students should bear in mind that the right to free speech does not include a license to harass or injure others or to disrupt orderly conduct of College classes or operations.
Staff and faculty of the Instructional Division are committed to fostering an environment of inclusivity for all students. In instances in which staff or faculty have an inclusion-related issue regarding a student, the issue may be subject to Board Policy 4095 - Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct Code Policy. Such issues involving WCC students either on-campus, in online learning or virtual spaces, or at off-campus, College-sponsored functions may be subject to Board Policy 4095. Issues involving a student should be reported to the departmental/divisional leader and submitted through Maxient.
In instances in which a student or employee has an inclusion-related issue regarding a staff or faculty member, the issue may be subject to Board Policy 5081 - Policy Prohibiting Discriminatory Harassment. Such complaints involving WCC employees either on-campus, in online learning or virtual spaces, or at off-campus, College-sponsored functions may be subject to Board Policy 5081. Issues involving a staff or faculty member should be reported to the departmental/divisional leader and submitted through Maxient.