"Inclusion Starts With Me" 4th annual Teach In

Yesterday I participated in Cal Poly's 4th annual Inclusion Starts With Me Teach In, which is a day full of workshops, panels, and events related to diversity, inclusion, and social justice. Since coming to Cal Poly, I have participated in this event every year. (You can read about my experiences at the 3rd annual Teach In here and the 2nd annual Teach In here.) 

​I served on a panel called "Perspectives from Cal Poly's Multiracial Community," which brought together members of the Cal Poly community who identify as multiracial or multiethnic. I was joined by Dr. Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti (Associate Dean for Diversity and Curriculum in the College of Liberal Arts), Kari Mansager (Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Outreach at University Housing), Alyiah Gonzales (English student), and Ashley Calloway (biochemistry student). We enjoyed a robust conversation that covered a variety of topics, such as how our racial identities shift depending on time, space, and context; what assumptions people often make about our racial identities; how our family impacts the development of our multiracial identities; and what resources we have used to help with the development of our multiracial identities.

Contributing to the discussion. Photo by Jay Allen Thompson.

Kari introduces the panel. From left to right: Kari Mansager, Alyiah Gonzales, me, Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti, and Ashley Calloway. Photo by Jay Allen Thompson.

With my fellow panelists after our session. From left to right: Kari Mansager, Alyiah Gonzales, me, Jennifer Teramoto Pedrotti, and Ashley Calloway. Photo by Jay Allen Thompson.

Update on 2/21/20: I'm delighted to share that our panel was featured in a Cal Poly News Report article about the Teach-In, which includes a quotation from me about the event.