One of the NIRSA Assembly’s topics of focus this year was the implications of social issues and the impacts those issues have on campus recreation. The Assembly work team assigned to this topic began their year brainstorming social issues ongoing on their campuses and/or their communities, and asked NIRSA members to complete a short survey to help determine their focus on key issues. Once areas of focus were determined, the group gathered resources relevant for each issue.
The 2019–2020 NIRSA Assembly is excited to announce the creation of a resource page addressing social issues facing higher education. The page is broken down into the following categories, with a number of articles and resources linked to each:
- Race and Racism
- Gender Identity, Including Transgender or Nonbinary Identities
- Food Insecurity
- Illicit Drug Use
- Immigration
- Climate Change
- Firearms
The majority of the work for this resource was completed by March 2020—and a lot has happened in our world since then. If you know of any valuable resources that could be added to this webpage, please send them to NIRSA Leadership Programs Coordinator Chelsea Hansson so we can keep the page updated with relevant information.
A huge thank you to all the work team members who helped put this resource together:
- Mallory Valentine, University of Iowa
- Bob Gough, William and Mary
- Kimberly Rottet, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- Gansheng Xu, University of New Brunswick
- Heather Hamilton, Colorado School of Mines
- Jenny Strickland, Purdue University
- Miranda Buiter, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
- For more information, please contact NIRSA Leadership Programs Coordinator Chelsea Hansson.
Chelsea Hansson is the Leadership Programs Coordinator at NIRSA.
Mallory Valentine is currently the Assistant Director, Student & Member Engagement at the University of Iowa. She is also currently a member of the NIRSA Assembly. You can email her at mallory-valentine@uiowa.edu.
