A Season of Learning

Hello all,

We are living in troubled times. And although that is usually the human condition, our American peace, prosperity, and civil society feels more precarious to me right now. And infinitely more precious as well.

We can feel an instinct to withdraw into calmer waters in these moments, but that's not what a commitment to an equitable and inclusive university requires. It requires us to remain open to dialogue and learning and growing together.

I'm offering one such opportunity here, to focus on supporting respect and consideration for everyone celebrating the many different religious holidays that the fall and winter season brings.

Right now, we have entered the new year season in the Jewish calendar and I plan to learn more about these holidays this year. Being a strong ally for my religious Jewish family members, colleagues, students, friends, and community members requires me to gain more knowledge.

I encourage you all to learn along with me.

Or if you are Jewish yourself and feel comfortable sharing- perhaps this could be a moment for you to help someone else move further along the ally journey?

From the Jewish Holiday's of 2025 Chabad calendar online website we learn that:

"Rosh Hashanah, begins sunset of Monday, September 22, 2025, and ends nightfall of Wednesday, September 24, 2025.

Rosh Hashanah, first of the High Holidays, is the Jewish New Year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, and a day of judgment and coronation of G-d as king."

Yom Kippur, begins sunset of Wednesday, October 1, 2025, and ends nightfall of Thursday, October 2, 2025

Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, when we fast, pray, seek forgiveness from G-d and our fellows, and come closer to G-d. It is the peak of the High Holidays."

This fall I plan to include information about more religious holidays in my posts- and I would love to have help doing this. So call or email if you have an interest in spotlighting anything specific and we can work on that together.

All the best,
Holly

Civility, Citizenship, and the Constitution

Hello all,

Advocacy for women in technology, and for a more inclusive and equitable higher education ecosystem, must exist within our larger society. Our ability to discuss challenging issues with civility as part of our process of seeking good solutions, characterizes the spirit of WIT. And discussing rights, freedoms, civic obligations, the role of government and other topics requires us to be knowledgeable about the issues.

Today is Constitution and Citizenship Day, which from the website of the National Archives was established "to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787." On this day, those of us in higher education can take a moment to appreciate the power of the constitution and its enduring impact, even as we continue to strive towards "a more perfect union."

The original constitution has been amended 27 times and these are provided in context on the website of the Constitution Center, "beginning with the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments, ratified December 15, 1791."

The American Library Association's Reader. Voter. Ready. provides "resources for libraries to connect voters with information, ensure they can get out to the polls, and encourage them to pass on the freedom to vote that’s at the heart of our democratic process." Public libraries are often more active in voter education and encouragement, but our academic libraries can also play a role in encouraging the active participation of our communities in civic life.

All the best,
Holly

Better Allies Snippet #7 - Everyday Language

Hello All,

This month we’re covering Chapter 8 from Better Allies, "Everyday Language".

In this chapter Catlin covers how to make our everyday language more in sync with our intention to be good allies. She specifically writes about about the following categories: gendered language, language with racist roots, language that refers to ladies and gentlemen, reclaimed and reappropriated language, the use of pronouns, the importance of properly pronouncing names, the use of terms and slang that reflect disabilities, language that disrespects indigenous peoples, popular industry terms, and the use of titles and honorifics. She also emphasizes the importance of allies to be role models. That is a lot!

In our higher education technology fields all of these types of language concerns come into play. By paying attention to using better language, we have the opportunity to show our colleagues, students, and communities what it looks like to be inclusive in the words that we use. What Catlin focuses on throughout Chapter 8 is providing details about why each of these types of language makes a difference in how people feel. While the details of each type varies, it comes down to one thing- each of these categories of language has an impact that either opens the door to making everyone feel welcome or closes the door and keeps some people out.

Catlin provides a counter-argument (p.119) to the idea that “people are too sensitive to this stuff. Perhaps that's true, but this sensitivity may not rise to the level of consciousness. It may show up as a background discomfort or an intuition that something isn't a good fit.” Catlin is quoting Anne Janzer, author of the book Get the Word Out who “points out that subtleties in language may seem minor when called out, but their collective power is formidable.”

And the way I understand this is that use of language that distances the individual from the group creates a feeling of being unwelcome. So anytime we separate us from them in our language, we are reinforcing an exclusionary mindset that does a disservice to our SUNY mission.

I want to focus a little bit on the idea of using reclaimed and reappropriated language, because this one has caused no small amount of stress in recent years as pop culture and music uses more reclaimed terms. This is where marginalized peoples try to take back a slur that has been formulated to hurt them. Catlin references professor James L. Gibson who co-authored a 2019 study examining language reappropriation. She writes, “He and his colleagues found that context is crucial, but under some circumstances reclaimed slurs can actually become neutral or even positive.” Catlin then provides a warning that I think all of us need to pay close attention to. If these slurs are reclaimed by the populations they were meant to hurt, can anyone use them? And the answer that Catlin provides (p. 121) is a firm no. “Reappropriation creates solidarity within the group doing the reappropriating, but people outside of the group should assume those loaded terms are still taboo."

Skipping ahead a bit, on pages 130-132 Catlin focuses on popular industry terms. She says that despite their racist undertones, terms like whitelists/blacklist are industry standard and almost universally accepted. SUNY has made progress in this area, and there is still more to make. She writes, “While it can be challenging to steer colleagues away from jargon and terms that have been widely used in their fields for decades, allies must focus on doing what's right instead of what's easy. And that includes eradicating insider language and shorthand terms that are problematic.”

The chapter ends with these four tips:

• Be aware and respectful of pronouns, gendered languages and phrases that are demeaning or offensive. Lead by example in how you use (or don't use) both.
• Take time to learn people's names and how to pronounce them.
• Create a safe space for people in your workplace or industry to ask questions and discuss problematic language.
• Be aware that some terms you think are innocuous may be harmful to others. If you mess up, apologize.

Until next month- be well and keep learning!

When Diplomacy Fails: The Power of Speaking Up

Hello All,

This week I'm sharing some strong advice for effective action - Say What You Mean!

I'll admit it. I'm a big fan of advice columns and have been for years. It's like a mini written version of reality T.V. - where you get a glimpse of someone else's concerns and can think through possible solutions- and hear from experts, and sometimes see yourself. Well, and sometimes I get to think "WOW, am I lucky to not have that problem!" A few of my favorites are published in the national newspapers (NYT and Washington Post) including Kwame Anthony Appiah's The Ethicist, and Carolyn Hax's Perspective.

An older one of Carolyn Hax's really spoke to me earlier this week and I'm sharing it with you now. It has great advice for handling situations where tact, hints, and diplomacy haven't worked.

Try those first of course. If you are working on equity, you are bound to run up against some roadblocks. If you are not perfectly representative of the majority standard (and who is?) you are bound to run up against some dismissals or bias. If you are working towards being a good advocate you are bound to get pushback from people who are not as far along the equity journey as you are. If you are in any relationships with other people, you are bound to experience the challenges of expectations and unspoken assumptions.

So always try diplomacy first, but then if needed move on to this: Say what you mean. The topic of the column (although it's a good one!) is not the point here, it's the advice...

From the column:

" You’ve tried dropping all the polite hints about what’s bothering you, and she hasn’t shown any signs of picking any of them up, so you’re moving toward just not dealing with her at all, at the high cost of time with your brother. I must see some version of this in my mailbox at least a few times a week. I’ve done it myself. But it’s a progression that skips right over what is arguably the most effective recourse of all (without all the legal and moral kerfuffle of your dinner-knife solution): Say what you mean. Ignoring and healthy cheerleading and strategic callings-out all have their place. But, wow, there’s just nothing like: “That is none of your business.”

She ends the column with this: "You can also show compassion for yourself by setting limits on what you’ll discuss and then not flinching. When she starts in, you just walk away or change the subject as blatantly as you need to. Dysfunction gets zero oxygen from you. This is really just integrity, so applies to anything. Before you go dark, see what sunlight can do."

All the best,
Holly