Myatt Center for Diversity and Inclusion

Mission:

The Myatt Center for Diversity and Inclusion is committed to creating a multicultural environment through intentional education, community engagement, and valuing the unique identities of each member of the Charger community. Our commitment to diversity is driven by the core values of connection, belonging, inclusivity, equity, acceptance, and accountability. The Myatt Center’s focus is on creating a respectful and inclusive environment based our awareness and ability to engage with others who are different on many levels, including ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, gender, military status, religious belief, and life experiences.

Core Values:

The Myatt Center for Diversity and Inclusion is committed to the following values:

• Connection and Belonging: Our commitment to connection and belonging means that we challenge each other to step out of our comfort zone and to connect with others who are different from us. Belonging means ensuring that individuals feel engaged and uniquely accepted as part of the Charger community.
• Inclusivity and Equity: Our commitment to inclusivity and equity means that we strive to create an authentic environment that recognizes and accommodates differences of all members of the Charger community. Equity pushes us to examine our racial consciousness and the social and historical context of exclusionary practices, policies, and structures that prevent justice and fairness.
• Acceptance and Accountability: Our commitment to acceptance means that we understand, embrace, and celebrate each other uniqueness and individual differences in the context of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs or other ideologies. Accountability is a cultural shift towards ongoing actions involving learning, measuring change, and interrogating our biases and assumptions about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

Ian Shick

Assistant Director of LGBTQ+ Resources

IShick@newhaven.edu

Jennifer Thorndike-Gonzales

Assistant Director

JThorndikeGonzales@newhaven.edu

Diversity Peer Educators

The Diversity Peer Educators assist and support the Myatt Center for Diversity and Inclusion in fostering an inclusive University community. They provide peer support and referrals to essential University resources as appropriate; serve as student mentors for the SUCCESS mentoring program; and develop and implement DEI programs and facilitate DEI dialogues across the University of New Haven community.

Myatt Center Student Workers

The Myatt Center offers many employment opportunities both paid and through work study and the bursar’s office that are available in our office. If you are interested in working in the office, please reach out!

Visit Charger Connection to learn more about each club or organization listed below.

Clubs and organizations listed below work directly with the Myatt Center:

• Black Student Union (BSU)
• Caribbean Student Association (CSA)
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
• Latin American Student Association (LASA)
• Asian American Student Union (AASU)
• Chinese Student and Scholar Association
• PRIDE
• Spectra
• Elite Step Team
• Incendio Salsa Dance Project
• Monsoon Dance Crew

Graduate Student Organizations:

• African Graduate Student Association
• Indian Student Council
• Saudi Student Club
• International Students Association

Courageous Conversation Series - This ongoing series brings together members of the University community to foster productive, impactful, and action-oriented conversations that cultivate diversity, inclusion, equity, and a sense of belonging for all Chargers

Celebration of Excellence - In advance of each Commencement ceremony, the University hosts a Celebration of Excellence event to honor the achievements of graduating students of color, multicultural students, and students from under-represented communities.

Lavender Graduation – Each spring the University hosts a Lavender Graduation to honor graduating LGBTQ+ students and celebrate their achievements.

Cultural Celebrations - The Myatt Center offers a wide variety of programming to both educate and celebrate the many cultures that make up our community. We celebrate: Hispanic Heritage Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, Transgender Awareness Week, Native American Heritage Month, Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and Asian American/Pacific Islander Month.

The SUCCESS (Successfully Uniting, Connecting, Creating, Engaging & Serving Students) mentoring program is designed to help incoming underrepresented students begin their successful transition to the University of New Haven. These students include BIPOC, LGBTQ+, First Generation, Dream/DACAumented, Ability, Gender Identity (female identified students), military status, and socio-economic status. Students will be connected with an upper-year student along with a faculty/staff/or alumni mentor.

Students participating in the program, will be expected to:

• Attend summer FLEX Success program (this is not required, but recommended).
• Monthly check in with mentors.
• Attend workshops that focus on social, emotional, and academic development.
• Attend certain co-curricular events on campus during the academic year.

Many opportunities for training and professional development for students, students groups, leaders, faculty, and staff are provided by the Myatt Centers and by campus partners across the University community.

Student, Faculty and Staff: can use this form to request a training: https://chargerconnection.newhaven.edu/submitter/form/start/512160

• LGBTQ Advocacy: Enables organizations to develop the capacity to support and advocate for LGBTQ-identified people at their many intersections in the University community. The training focuses on organizations’ development of Allyship, Policy, and Membership.


• Ally Identity Development Training: Supports individuals seeking to develop cultural competency in conjunction with their allyship identity.


• Trait, Behavior, Attitudes, and Decision Workshop: Enables individuals to understand that “traits” are characteristics of people they did not choose (e.g., race, gender, ethnicity, disability) and highlights the process people often use to assign social value to those traits. The process is discussed through common experiences and guided by backgrounds and histories of those in the training. Various histories and perspectives will be discussed in the context of evincing a more accurate picture of our University’s community and our nation’s population, including struggles and privileges, the origins of these struggles and privileges, and why the assignment of social value to unchosen traits is dysfunctional, and, ultimately, destructive to democracy. Available to departments and Recognized Student Organizations upon request.


• Bystander/Upstander Intervention Training: Equips individuals with some tools to counteract discrimination and prepare you to take action when witnessing harassment and discriminatory behavior in person or online. Required for all first-time incoming students and available to students' groups, departments upon requests.


• Charger Pride Workshops: Provides the skills and strategies to enhance cultural competency for teams, clubs, or organizations. Additionally, these serve to provide team bonding, and professional development opportunities.
  • Team Dynamics Workshop: Focuses on team engagement, developing strong relationships with others, and creating action steps for a healthy team dynamic
  
  
  • Social Justice 101: Power Dynamics and Structural Discrimination. Develops a consciousness of inclusion by identifying and rectifying structural discrimination within their community.
  
  
  • Social Justice 201: Examining and Managing Your Own Privileges. Examines individuals’ privileges or lack thereof in society. Participants will explore the intersection of their multiple social identities (Race, Class, Gender, Sexuality, Spirituality, etc.). By gaining this consciousness, individuals will be able to explore ways to become allies to those groups who do not have the same privileges.
  
  
  • Dealing with Tension: Develops techniques to work through tension, e.g. active listening, story gathering, meaning making, etc. In addition, participants will be introduced to a range of interventions and prevention strategies to promote a healthy dynamic when dealing with tension in your group.
  
  
  • Implicit Bias/Unconscious Bias: Exposes people to their implicit biases, provides tools to adjust automatic patterns of thinking, and, ultimately, strives to eliminate stereotypes, prejudice and discriminatory behaviors
  
  
• Facilitation Skills Training: Provides individuals with practical skills and tools for guiding others through productive conversations about a wide variety of topics that build understanding and agreement and making it easier for groups or teams to achieve their goals through productive and efficient meetings, planning sessions, and related activities.


• Intergroup Dialogue: Enables participants to take part in semi-structured face-to-face meetings across different social identity groups led by peer facilitators for between 10-13 weeks. Topics will vary by semester and may include conversations on race, gender, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status. This program creates a setting in which individuals engage in open and constructive dialogue, learn about themselves and others, and explore issues concerning intergroup relations, conflict, and social justice. Ultimately, the goal of this program is for individuals to develop greater intergroup empathy, skills to collaborate across differences, and tools to participate in social change.


• Diversity and Inclusion Certificate (faculty/staff only): Offers an asynchronous training certificate program that helps to develop skills to become a champion of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.


• Accessibility Training (faculty only): Provides self-paced training for faculty offered through the Accessibility Resource Center. Please contact Linda Copney-Okeke at LCopneyokeke@newhaven.edu

For more information on training opportunities, email CDI@newhaven.edu

Required Educational Development for Students and Recognized Organizations

• Step Up: Moving from Bystander to Upstander (Required for Incoming students): Equips students with the tools to counteract discrimination and prepares them to take action when witnessing harassment or discriminatory behavior in person or online. Available only to incoming first-year students.


• Step Up (required): Serves as a great reminder that as active bystanders we can Step In to prevent acts of violence and harassment, and we can Stand Up for survivors. Available only to incoming first year students.


• Diversity and Inclusion Course (required): Features short training sessions for incoming first-year students that introduce key concepts related to identity, bias, power, and privilege and what is means to be part of a diverse community. Includes flexible learning modules that allow students to practice allyship, self-care, and strategies to create inclusive space.


• RSO Diversity and Inclusion Workshop (required): Requires recognized student organizations to participate in this workshop to be reinstated or to remain active each year.


• Student Leadership Safe Space Training Safe Space Training In Person: Offers students who are employed by the Myatt Center; Center for Student Engagement, Leadership, and Orientation; and Office of Residential Life several highly interactive and informative workshops.


• Employee Diversity and Inclusion Workshops (required - Human Resources): Provides, as part of employment onboarding process, in-person and instructor-led training as well as online training and access to resources about diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

All members of the University community are expected to refrain from actions that intimidate, humiliate, or demean persons or groups or that undermine their security or self-esteem. If such an action does occur, the University has a comprehensive offering of resources and support in place to respond should a student experience a bias-related incident.

https://www.newhaven.edu/student-life/public-safety/report-it/

The Myatt Center actively works to build relationships with local organizations to support our programming and provide learning and community-building opportunities:

• New Haven Pride Center
• New Haven NAACP

All students are welcome to apply to the University of New Haven regardless of their citizenship or residency status. Residency status is not a factor that is considered in admission. In addition, undocumented students, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, and mixed family status students are treated and considered the same as any other University of New Haven applicant during the review process.

Resources for Undocumented Students

Practicing inclusion across our community is essential to the success of our students. We work to empower faculty and staff to enhance our accommodations and processes so that all individuals can participate, feel a sense of belonging, and are empowered to be fully engaged within the Charger Community.

LGBTQ+ Resources:

• Gender Identity Policy
• Name Policy
• University Guide to Supporting Transgender Students

Human Resources Policies that cover nondiscrimination

IDEA Council

We understand that the parents and family members play a critical role in their student’s success. Below is some important information about the University and resources available to all students.

• Academic calendar link
• One Stop (Financial Aid, Bursar’s, and Registrar)
• Center for Student Success
• Career Development Center
• Counseling and Psychological Services
• Accessibility Resource Center
• Dean of Students Office