DEI May Newsletter

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Newsletter

May 2023

Welcome to the May 2023 issue of the DEI newsletter from the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI). This newsletter provides a space for connection, and reflection, as well as for sharing DEI information and resources.

In This Edition
The ODEI Desk: End of Semester Message
A Year In Review
DEI Reflection by Vi Bui
DEI Initiatives
The L.E.A.D. Institute
Upcoming DEI Trainings and Events
Past DEI Trainings and Events
Food for Thought
Resources

With the academic year ending, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) would like to commend everyone for their hard work and contributions this past year. Because of your passion and dedication, we are that much closer to making the SSW a more just, inclusive, and equitable community for all.

The Spring semester has been a busy one – filled with accomplishments, stress, bold ideas, and empowering events. Even with all we have accomplished, we know that there is still so much work to be done. When it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion work, it is easy to focus on how much we have left to do. There are laws and beliefs that are making it hard for the most marginalized of our communities to not just survive but thrive. Fighting is important and certainly has its place, but so does rest. In Tricia Hersey’s book, Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto; she states, “Treating each other and ourselves with care isn’t a luxury, but an absolute necessity if we’re going to thrive. Resting isn’t an afterthought, but a basic part of being human.” With this in mind, ODEI invites all of you to center yourselves and prioritize rest this Summer.

This is our last newsletter for the semester, but we will be back in Fall 2023, sharing DEI news, trainings, and events that impact all of us at the School of Social Work!

We will see you in Fall 2023!

The School of Social Work has had a busy year! Students, staff, and faculty have all worked hard to promote Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (J.E.D.I.) at our school. The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) wants to acknowledge the DEI work happening in all spaces in the SSW. Whether it was a class project, teaching equitable approaches in class, or joining the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) - all of us have been hard at work. ODEI is proud to be in good company!

While we know there is still much work to be done, we
want to take the opportunity to recognize and
acknowledge our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts from the
past school year. Below is some of the work that has been done:

Events

ODEI Team Presented at National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE) in May 2022
ODEI Presented at the CSWE 2022 Conference
J.E.D.I. is Social Work Community Connect
2023 J.E.D.I. Awards

Trainings

Lunch and Learn: LGBTQ+ and Policy
Speaking Up! How to Report Discrimination and Bias at UMB
L.E.A.D. Institute for CPE Launched
L.E.A.D. Institute for MSW Students Pilot
Lunch and Learn: Fatphobia and Social Work Practice
Reporting Sexual Assault and Supporting Survivors Panel
SSW members attended the UMBC Restorative Practices Training and a follow-up training at UMB SSW

Initiatives

ODEI Classroom Presentations
National Disability Employment Awareness Campaign
Re-launch of J.E.D.I. is Social Work Initiative
Reflect and Act Newsletter
January is J.E.D.I. Month Campaign
Continued the ODEI Textbook Lending Initiative
Began planning the ODEI Social Justice Community Book Club Pilot

Looking ahead to the Fall semester, the ODEI is using the Summer to plan exciting new initiatives, assessments, policies, and programming that can create systemic, sustainable, and strategic change at the SSW.

Also, as Anti-DEI efforts arise across the country, our office believes it is crucial for us to continue discussing and supporting DEI efforts at our school. Inspired by this, ODEI is excited about our 2023 - 2024 theme:
"Fighting Back and Looking Forward"

While the narrative about social work in the United States is that it has been primarily carried out by upper- and middle-class white Christian women, there has been increasing recognition of the contributions of Black and Indigenous social workers who have played significant roles to the field. This Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I wanted to uplift a social worker with my ethnic heritage and there is no one I would consider more of a personal social work ancestor than Vietnamese Buddhist nun, anti-war peace activist, and social worker Sister Chân Không.

Chân Không and the School of Youth and Social Services

Chân Không was born Cao Ngọc Phương (family name: Cao, given names: Ngọc Phương) in 1938 to a middle-class family in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam. Since childhood, Chân Không engaged in self-directed charity work, providing financial aid to other children who experienced poverty. During her time at the University of Saigon, Chân Không would visit the nearby slums and help the families by organizing projects and resources to improve healthcare, education, and economic development. Her passion was to pursue both social work and Buddhism, but she did not find a spiritual teacher who supported her vision until she met Thích Nhất Hạnh in 1959. Together in 1965, Chân Không and Thích Nhất Hạnh established the School of Youth for Social Services (SYSS) as the first social work school in Vietnam with the idea to create partnership and understanding between the poor villagers and social work students, and to guide the development of the students through personal and social transformation. Chân Không led its operations, and alongside 10,000 social workers and volunteers partnered with villages to establish schools and medical centers when the government failed to address their advocacy efforts.

However, being Buddhist in 1960s South Vietnam became increasingly dangerous as President Ngô Đình Diệm sought to make South Vietnam into a Catholic country and the Buddhist social work movement faced state violence. Their work with the poor and victims of violence on both sides of the war and commitment to nonviolence made them political targets, as this was seen as a Communist activity, despite their refusal to align with any political movement. Chân Không witnessed many of her peers be persecuted, kidnapped, and murdered for their work. To get them through such traumatic circumstances, Chân Không and other members of the Buddhist social work movement cite their spiritual practice and mindfulness to keeping their hope alive. Eventually the School of Youth for Social Services was dissolved, but the spirit and teachings live on in the continued spread of what came to be known today as Engaged Buddhism.

The Legacy of Engaged Buddhism

After Thích Nhất Hạnh was exiled from South Vietnam for refusing to take a side during the U.S. War in Vietnam, he and Chân Không established Plum Village in 1983 in Southern France which acts as the central hub and community of Engaged Buddhism, now practiced all over the world. Engaged Buddhism is a practice of Buddhism that confronts social injustice and participates in political activism. Elements of Engaged Buddhist practice also stem from the Dalit Buddhist movement founded by B.R. Ambedkar rejecting the caste oppression of Hinduism. Chân Không has said, “People think that engaged Buddhism is only social work, only stopping the war. But, in fact, at the same time you stop the war outside, you have to stop the war inside yourself.” Through Thích Nhất Hạnh and Chân Không’s writing, lectures, and Dharma talks, Engaged Buddhism and the related teachings of mindfulness have spread all over the Western world and are now commonly used by many mental health clinicians and healing practitioners. Although Thích Nhất Hạnh in January 2022, Sister Chân Không at age 85 continues to be a spiritual teacher and leader of social justice.

Learning Lessons from Chân Không’s Life and Work

Chân Không’s work in the villages caught in the crossfires of war, demonstrates that micro and direct practice social work is never disconnected from the macro practice of upending the systems and forces that create suffering. Further, the field of social work needs to take an international perspective and recognize the ways in which the U.S. and other Western powers contributes to violence, oppression, and crises across the globe. The School of Youth and Social Services’ foundation in Buddhist principles also underscores the importance of having a strong set of values to act as a guide and compass in social work practice. It is also clear that faith, or a sense of hope or optimism, regardless of religious belief, is an important element of social change work to get through challenging circumstances. Faith is what guided Chân Không, just as it did Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Catholic liberation theology movement in Latin America.

The field of social work needs to expand its definition of what social work is outside of whiteness. Professionalized social work erases the contributions of those who have provided mutual and community care outside of traditional institutions. At the same time, non-Western spiritual and healing practices, such as meditation and mindfulness continue to be coopted and appropriated by the professional mental health field. Decontextualizing the mindfulness practices spread by the teachings of the leaders of Engaged Buddhism from its critiques of oppression and violence, and, further, using them as tools to expropriate greater productivity and profit is a misrepresentation and misuse of these philosophies. Social work practitioners who use these now “evidence-based practices” need to not only recognize their origins, but also act in alignment with the teachings and philosophies from which they originate.

As we continue to recognize Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I hope Chân Không can serve as a new inspiration for what a radical social work practice can look like. Asians and Asian Americans have a rich history of involvement in social change, civil and human rights, and I am proud to be a part of its lineage.

To learn more about Asian Americans in social work and social change, please check out the resources I compiled for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

To learn more about Sister Chân Không and the School for Youth and Social Services, please check out the following sources:

Autobiography: Learning True Love: How I Learned and Practiced Social Change in Vietnam(1993) by Sister Chân Không

The newer edition of this text was published in 2007 with the title Learning True Love: Practicing Buddhism in a Time of War

Sister Chân Không’s biography by Plum Village
Article: The Life and Teachings of Sister Chân Không (2017) by Andrea Miller for Lion’s Roar
Blog and Interview with Graduate of SYSS’s Inaugural Class: Mindfulness in times of war. The School of Youth for Social Service (2016)

(Above Image of Chân Không, Source: Plum Village)
Written By Vi Bui

Affinity Group Facilitators Wanted

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is
looking for new Affinity Group Facilitators for Fall 2023.

The Affinity Groups provide an opportunity to not
only connect with others of shared identity, but for
all involved to share experiences, deepen their
understanding, and work towards a common goal

For Fall 2023, we are looking for facilitators for
the following Affinity Groups:

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)
Disability Justice & Advocacy Group
Jewish Affinity Group
LGBTQ+
White Accountability Group

Compensation may be available for those who qualify!

Interested in facilitating? Please fill out the Affinity Group Facilitation Interest Form!

If you have any questions, please contact DEI Coordinator, Julia Scott at julia.scott@ssw.umaryland.edu

Support the DEIC

The DEIC (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee) is the School of Social Work's schoolwide committee charged with fostering an atmosphere of equity and inclusiveness.

The last DEIC meeting of the semester is on Monday, May 15,
2023, from 12:15-1:45 pm.

If you are interested in joining a DEIC Subcommittee, you can email deic@ssw.umaryland.edu

If you are interested in attending a DEIC Meeting, you may join the meeting by Clicking Here!

The L.E.A.D. Institute 2023 -2024

L.E.A.D., which stands for Leading for Equity, Anti-Racism, and Diversity, is a 4 part eConvening training and coaching series through the University of Maryland, School of Social Work. It is focused on cultivating an anti-racist mindset, promoting equity, and dismantling structural racism and oppression.

We will release our 2023-2024 L.E.A.D. Institute schedule during the new school year!

Have Questions? Please contact DEI Coordinator Julia Scott at julia.scott@ssw.umaryland.edu

Past DEI Trainings and Events

Reporting Sexual Assault and Supporting Survivors

In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion held a virtual event on Friday, April 14, 2023, titled “Reporting Sexual Assault and Supporting Survivors.”

2023 DEI Pulse Survey Teach-Out (April 17th: 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm)

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) hosted the Pulse Survey
Teach-Out at the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DEIC)
Meeting on Monday, April 17th, from 12:30 pm to 1:45 pm.

If you would like a copy of the presentation or recording, please send an email to Neijma Celestine-Donnor at ncelestine-donnor@ssw.umaryland.edu. If you would like survey results specific to your unit, please also let her know.

ODEI Intern Shout Out

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a small office that has a big job. We are working with units and putting on various events that will help make the School of Social Work a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive space to learn and work. We wouldn’t be able to accomplish our work without our passionate and dedicated interns.

This year's interns, Vi Bui, Kostas Canelos, and Ariya Hayes-Lawson, made sure that our office stayed on point. From planning events to co-facilitating DEI trainings, all three of them went above and beyond! Check below for some of the projects they helped with:

Co-created and co-led the L.E.A.D. for MSW Students Pilot
Co-lead DEI Teach-Ins
Completed ODEI Classroom Presentations
Wrote articles for the DEI Newsletter
Helped with DEI Zoom events and trainings
Created survey and aggregated data for DEI training and events
Helped start projects like the J.E.D.I. Community Connect
Assisted with the 2023 J.E.D.I. Awards

The ODEI team thanks you for all the hard work you put in this year. It has been a pleasure working with

each of you, and we hope you had an engaging and fun experience in our office.

To our graduating interns, Vi and Kostas: Congratulations, and we wish you the best on your next

adventure!

Are you interested in being a Work Study Student with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?

Contact our office at sswdeioffice@ssw.umaryland.edu

Pride Month 2023 Starts in June

Pride Month is a time to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual or aromantic, and others) community. The first Pride March was held in New York City in 1970 on the one-year anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, an event that changed LGBTQIA+ activism and the Gay Rights Liberation Movement in the United States. The last Sunday in June was initially celebrated as “Gay Pride Day,” which grew into a month-long series of events. Due to this history, Pride is much more than a fun event but also acts as a form of protest. Check out some resources below:

SSW Climate/Culture Concerns Reporting Form

A form that allows all members of the SSW community to submit their concerns and feedback related to the SSW climate and culture is available. The form, which is overseen by the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, was a collaborative effort between key SSW stakeholders. It creates a formal structure and system of collecting data and information that can be used to address school-wide challenges related to diversity, equity, climate and inclusion. This form is not meant to duplicate, but rather to strengthen and complement processes already in place. The form was also launched as a tool that allows for a more restorative approach in responding to issues and concerns related to climate and culture at SSW.