On behalf of NIRSA’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commission, I invite you to take some time this week to review the resources below. Whether you choose to integrate them into an upcoming staff training or you are simply reading them to expand your understanding on the vital topics of equity, diversity, or inclusion, these resources can help shape your perspective on social justice.

By Chescaleigh | YouTube

A few weeks ago, Marcus Jackson introduced us to the amazing Franchesca Ramsey in his recent article highlighting social justice resources. Among many other things, Ramsey is the host for MTV’s Decoded video series and has her own YouTube channel, both of which are populated with great content pertaining to social justice. In this video, she provides examples of faux apologies and shares her two-step process on how to take ownership of our mistakes, offer a genuine apology, and move forward.

This video can be a great resource to show staff during an introductory training on equity, diversity, and inclusion. We all make a lot of mistakes on our social justice journeys and Ramsey’s video offers a great way to begin a conversation not only about the mistakes themselves, but also about how we need to then hold ourselves accountable for the negative impacts we may inadvertently cause.


By Kathy Obear, adapted from materials developed by Elsie Y. Cross Associates, Inc. 1994 Delyte Frost, et al. | University of Wisconsin Multicultural Student Center

Panning is a skill that can be very beneficial to utilize in our daily lives and is particularly helpful when engaging in discussions around equity, diversity, and inclusion. Panning is an acronym that stands for Pay Attention Now and the concept can help prompt us to listen and observe without allowing assumptions or judgment to enter the conversation or situation. Pages two and three of the resource linked below discuss this skill in greater detail.

Panning is a great skill to teach our student staff who may be on the front line of our facilities, programs, and services. Teaching this concept to the staff at an in-service and then asking them to practice with peers can help them develop their ability to notice behaviors, comments, feelings, and patterns of treatment, that may be having a negative impact on participants or other staff members. Panning is not only a great skill to use to observe the external environment but is also helpful when doing an internal assessment of self: noticing what we are feeling, our behaviors, our thoughts, and our comments.

Add your voice to the conversation

We encourage you to connect with colleagues from across North America on this important topic. Join NIRSA’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Community of Practice today to find more resources or to participate in the online discussion.

Associate Director of Administration at  | NIRSA Profile

Erin Patchett, PhD., is currently the Director, Administration & Assessment for Campus Recreation at Colorado State University and the President for the NIRSA Board of Directors; you can email her at erin.patchett@colostate.edu.