December 1, 2020

IPBT Meeting – December 1, 2020

Tri-chairs: Christina G. Espinosa-Pieb, Mary Pape, Heidi King

Administrative reps: Sam Bliss, Randy Bryant, Alicia Cortez, Christina Espinosa-Pieb, Anita Muthyala-Kandula, Lorrie Ranck, Thomas Ray

Classified reps: Thomas Bailey, Christiana Kaleialii, Heidi King

Faculty reps: Mayra Cruz, Terrence Mullens, Mary Pape, Danny Solomon, Erik Woodbury

Student reps: Grace Lim, Arushi Sharma, Esha Dadbhawala, Luiza Eloy

Affinity Group Representatives:

Black Faculty, Staff and Administrators (BFSA): Melinda Hughes, Pauline Wethington

The Asian Pacific American Staff Association (APASA): Christine Chai, Khoa Nguyen

De Anza Latinx Association (DALA): Eric Mendoza, Felisa Vilaubi

Absent: Cheryl Balm, DuJuan Green, Lorna Maynard

Guest: Mallory Newell, Lisa Markus, Dawn Lee Tu, Sarah Wallace, Vins Chacko, Edmundo Norte, Rick Maynard, Daniel Smith, Susan Ho, Elvin Ramos, Francesca Caparas

Approval of Minutes – Notes of November 24th, 2020 were approved by consensus.

DASB Report – DASB Senators in their meeting of 11/25/2020 did a debrief about the town hall and sketched a plan for the next quarter. Finance Committee approved last distributions and reflected on what had been accomplished for the quarter. The DASB is updating their bylaws to change the membership to 30 members plus 5 more if needed for diversity.

Mayra Cruz introduced the activity for the day: Building a common language.

Mayra explained that the goal was to build a framework so that the team can have authentic conversations. All present would be invited into a breakout room with a facilitator. Each breakout room group would choose a reporter and a recorder. Six words/terms used in furthering of equity work  to be discussed were anti-racism, colonization/decolonization, equity (highlighting difference between equality and equity), equity-minded, inclusion, and institutional racism. Each breakout room would answer the following questions around just one of the six words:

1. When I use the term … (complete the sentence) or what does the term mean to you?

2. How do you hear others using the term_______?

3. How does the term apply to De Anza's culture?

After fifteen minutes discussing terms against the backdrop of these questions, all were summoned back to the main room where recorders from each of the 10 groups shared the main themes discussed in their small group.

Common theme emerging from discussion of anti-racism was needing to make conscious effort to fight racial inequities. Each person needs to reflect on their core values. Anti-racism needs to take place at different levels: individual, interpersonal, and institutional. Relating to De Anza culture, faculty of color actually have more responsibilities because they are acting as mentors to students and they are serving on diversity committees. Often fighting anti-racism takes a toll on those of color. Anti-racism is a call to action and just because you’re not part of the problem does not mean you’re part of the solution. The terms colonization and decolonization were more of a challenge to define and relate it to our experiences at De Anza. De Anza can be seen as one culture and the other cultures are there to support it. When policies and structures are created on campus, who is at the center of those. The definition of equity is embedded in many of us as the picture of the three humans needing three different heights of boxes to see over the fence. In regards to equity it is time to move to action. It is everyone’s responsibility to lead towards equity. Equity is pervasive but elusive on De Anza campus because we do not provide support to faculty, staff, and students to address the equity gap. To be equity-minded everyone has to be given what they need. We need to value each person. Inclusion is more than inviting everyone. It is engaging authentically with those from usually excluded populations so that they can actively engage in have the power to make decisions. It is about how you outreach to find new hires; about how you make groups comfortable to apply for promotions. De Anza has been clickish. This year’s IPBT meetings have been moving towards inclusion. Zoom meetings are showing inclusion in the “rainbow” of attendees on the screen. With inclusion, you must start by being deliberate. Policies, rules and policies can be racists. Institutional racism can be seen in hiring practices that are not welcoming to some, food pantries that are not accessible to all students, and syllabi where there are words that are an affront to some.

All participating, both groups and individuals, were invited to add their input to the Google form that will then be made available to all. When we meet again in 2021, we will use this discussion as our starting point.

Summary of Breakout Sessions