Hi there.

My name is John Pierre (that's me, to your left). I'm a second year master's student in the Higher Education Administration program (M.Ed. 2020*) at NC State University. I also work as a full-time student services specialist in the Department of Mathematics at the same institution.

This space has been created as a way for me to reflect on my experiences as an Fall 2019 graduate intern in the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED). Since late summer, I've been working with the incredible Diversity Engagement, Training, and Education (DETE) team. As you can see, we love our acronyms. DETE is comprised of Dr. Stephanie Helms Pickett (Associate Vice Provost), Beverly Williams (Director and my supervisor), Erin Morant (Program Coordinator), and Nicole Robelo (Program Assistant).

OIED is the central campus division for all things equity, inclusion and diversity. Under its umbrella fall the campus community centers (GLBT Center, Women's Center, Multicultural Student Affairs, African American Cultural Center), the Equal Opportunity compliance officers, DETE, and the Bias Impact Response Team. According to the OIED website: "The Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity is committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible, and diverse intellectual and cultural campus experience related to the mission of NC State University."

DETE operates a number of educational programs and learning certificates intended to help OIED meet and sustain that commitment. These programs are intended to re-orient participants toward equity and inclusion, whether by raising critical consciousness around privilege and oppressed, developing cultural competence or learning skills to be a change agent. While some programs are only for current and future faculty (i.e., PhD students), many others are open to faculty, staff and students. As staff, I completed their Equal Opportunity Institute (EOI) program from 2016-2017.

While this internship is a program requirement, I'm quite pleased to be a small part of the DETE team. I'm critical of inclusion and diversity but equity is my sweetspot. I was seeking an internship that would provide me with skills, knowledge, and opportunity to bring critical social justice education programs and initiatives to a college campus. This work is important to me as a Black queer being who often felt (feels, even) my experiences and reality marginalized in college environments. It's also work that isn't part of my full-time position, although how I carry out my more-administrative job has certainly been informed by equity frameworks. As an early-career higher ed professional, I want to move toward daily work that contributes to the fall of barriers standing in the way of students who are structurally and socially marginalized. The work that I want to do is equity work, the frameworks that I want to advance are about equity. DETE feels like the right place to see what it'd be like to make that move.

Stay tuned! - John Pierre