Join the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge for Campus Recreation

Campus recreation professionals and their student affairs colleagues are invited to be part of NIRSA’s 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge © for Campus Recreation, supported by Mondo. The concept of the 21-day challenge was introduced several years ago by diversity expert Eddie Moore, Jr. to create greater understanding of the intersections of race, power, privilege, supremacy, oppression, and equity. We are grateful to him for publicly sharing and encouraging others to use this concept as an educational tool.

As our partners at CUPA-HR noted, when they began their own challenge: “The nation — including our students, faculty and staff — is talking about race and the systems that perpetuate racial inequalities, inequities and injustice, as well as the heavy toll those systems have taken on the Black community. It’s critically important that we continue our efforts to move from talk to action on college and university campuses across the country. Creating effective social justice habits is one important way that we can work together to learn and address these incredible challenges.”

See related: In solidarity and action

This challenge is intentionally crafted to focus on the Black American experience. We value all NIRSA’s diverse members, and we unabashedly recognize the racism all BIPOC community members face daily; there is a real need at this moment in time to focus on the Black experience.

21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge is the registered copyright of America & Moore, LLC. 2014.

How will the challenge work?

This challenge is best suited to small groups; while NIRSA will offer opportunities for discussion, we hope you will invite others on your campus or in your network to take this challenge with you for deeper and richer dialogue! We also hope you might use some of the materials from this challenge with your staff and students.

This Challenge invites participants to complete daily assignments – usually a mix of readings and videos or podcasts – scoped to take an average of 45-60 minutes of your time. The 21-day challenge is designed for 21 working days; if you’d like to continue this through the weekends, bonus resources will provide that option.

The themes, resources selected, and discussion prompts provided are a start to a large, complex conversation. They are by no means exhaustive or holistic or in any way intended as a masterclass on racism in the United States.

Five Monday emails

Beginning September 14, participants will receive an email each Monday with resources and discussion prompts for the week. Each weekly email will include:

A resource list for the week, featuring 1-3 resources (a mix of article, videos, and podcasts) per day. The days are merely suggestions; the week’s resources can be engaged with however best suits your schedule.
3-4 discussion prompts for the week. These will guide our conversations during the virtual roundtables and may also be used for discussions on campus.
A link to register for the weekly roundtable discussion.

Friday discussions

Each Friday, NIRSA will host a small roundtable discussion on the week’s theme. The roundtables will be facilitated by NIRSA Board members and other leaders from our field. Facilitators will provide their perspectives on the week’s readings, consider the discussion prompts, and invite participants to share and engage with each other.

Space in the NIRSA virtual roundtables will be limited – so please register early if you would like to attend. Discussions will be recorded for later viewing for those who cannot attend live. The goal of the NIRSA sessions is not for the Association to host an in-depth dialogue for every individual registrant. Rather, real, in-depth dialogue will need to occur in smaller groups, which is why we’re encouraging participants to work with peers on campus or in your NIRSA network. The 21st day of the challenge will be Monday, October 12. On this day, participants will receive their final communication and opportunities for next steps.
We look forward to being part in this journey with you!

Register Now

The 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge is free for individual members (including any individual at NIRSA member institutions), but you must register to participate. Registration will also be available for $99 to non-member individuals at non-member schools.

Supported by Mondo

Associate member of NIRSA since 2000 and current Platinum Partner of the Association, Mondo is proud to be a sponsor of the NIRSA 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge for Campus Recreation.