[Jewonthis] MinCo-Related Announcements

[Aizenberg, Tamar]

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to pass along some announcements from MinCo and various groups
within MinCo that WCJA has been informed of throughout the past week or so.

1. The Committee on Education Affairs is soliciting student suggestions for
courses for the college's new Difference, Power, and Equity requirement
(DPE) that is replacing the Exploring Diversity Initiative. DPE courses
examine the mechanisms, histories, and practices behind social, political
and philosophical structures of difference and power. They are centrally
focused around issues of difference, diversity, inequality, and/or
inclusivity.

A brief disclaimer: the DPE initiative is new, and these suggestions will
contribute to the long term discussion about courses that will be offered
in the future, but are not guaranteed to be developed into courses in the
coming semesters.

Suggested areas of study may include but are not limited to:
ability/disability, body size, citizenship status, ethnicity, gender, race,
religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic background. This is not
intended to be an exhaustive list, but should give an idea of the types of
issues that might be examined in a DPE course.

*Suggestions may be submitted here:* https://goo.gl/forms/t2IfnEFHcZSc2JvV2
.

2. MinCo created a form to document instances of discrimination and racism
students have faced when interacting with Campus Safety and Security. MinCo
is hoping to talk to CSS about instances they are aware of, but they want
to have a more holistic picture and account for all experiences before they
begin this conversation. They are hoping to make sure that PSS officers are
properly trained and held accountable when it comes to issues of racism.
*You may share your experiences through this anonymous google form:*
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf1twWF2ovWyvOTH4Fu
I5uJ2rX6MbsBYOkyDjOLI9Fp3fDJVw/viewform?usp=sf_link.

3. FemCo and Converging Worlds have been working on the issue of labor
justice in the construction hiring process at Williams. They have been
working with a local unionist from the Carpenter's Union, and have been
meeting with various people in the Zilkha Center, Davis Center, and the
administrative people in charge of construction and finance here. Their
goal is to raise awareness on campus, build student commitment to Williams
hiring more women and people of color onto construction products, and work
to establish policies around the hiring process as well as eliminating
screenings of criminal records for workers and making sure workers get paid
for hours they work. They submitted a Claiming Williams proposal for a
panel that features local construction workers and would love as much
collaboration as possible on this project, which they believe will be a
multi-step, multi-year process. This is an intersectional issue and also
affects us as Williams students in general.

Their next planning meeting is this Tuesday, at 9 pm in Lees. Anyone is
welcome to attend, and if you would like to stay in the loop even if you
can't make this meeting, *please sign up on this google sheet* and they
will add you to their listserve and make sure you get updates about
meetings and planning sessions: https://docs.google.
com/a/williams.edu/spreadsheets/d/1MqXrP4FU3GqUNuHnR8IB6hg4Q
XsmE5uBjsX9LZq8r0Y/edit?usp=sharing.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Best,

Tamar Aizenberg
WCJA President
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