The Department of Multicultural Services hosted the inaugural Texas A&M Race, Identity, and Social Equity (RISE) Conference on February 2, 2018. It was a great learning experience and a truly meaningful platform for students, faculty and staff to come together and talk about some hard topics and issues. The RISE Conference at A&M is modeled after the Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity (ISCORE), and it is part of a year-long initiative, including research and education components, that provides students with a better understanding of race, identity and social equity in higher education.
 
As graduate students, we often spend a lot of time reading, writing, doing research, and may not being very aware of the campus environment that we are in. In fact, many of the resources on diversity and inclusion education are geared toward the undergraduate population. However, we are indeed part of the student body, and campus environment does impact everyone. Especially for us who will become faculty and staff members in a higher education institution in the future, we need to actively take part in this, in order to build a healthy and safe place for every single one of us.
 
During this year’s RISE Conference, Keynote Speaker Dr. Thomas Hill from Iowa State University shared the initiative and conference they hosted on social equity and mutual respect, and the importance of having such university-wide forum to address difficult issues, especially in today’s society. Student researchers, faculty, staff and community members also shared their concerns about different aspects of race and ethnicity. A team from the College of Architecture shared their experience of using design project to foster community engagement and support the Brazos Valley African American Museum. A team from Cushing Memorial Library & Archives shared their efforts to acquire LGBTQ-related archival materials in recent years, and the history of LGBTQ on Texas A&M campus. A graduate student from the English department discussed the neo-imperialist discrimination faced by many international TAs. A professor from the Sociology department explained a series of white framing and white supremacy scenarios to inform people the danger of racist mindset and negative influence on small children. In many sessions, debate got heated and people continued to discuss things even outside of the conference rooms. People from different kinds of social and cultural background came together to tackle the problems and discuss possible solutions. The amount of knowledge, experience-sharing, and respect among all participants were extraordinary.
 
Race and ethnicity cannot be fully discussed in a single-day conference. The RISE initiative represents our school’s commitment to build an inclusive environment all year round. A good way for graduate students to get involved in such issues is through participating in the Department of Multicultural Services’ programs. If your college has a Diversity Council, you can also attend their meetings and help with their initiatives. Everyday on campus, we need to be aware of race, identity, and social equity, educate ourselves to understand people from different backgrounds, and take responsibility in countering or disrupting discriminative comments or actions. The idea is that no one need to do all the things, but everyone needs to do something.

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Mingqian Liu | Architecture
Mingqian Liu is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Architecture