Campus Activities Leaders as Stewards of Hope and Liberation: Reflections with Drs. Mamta Accapadi and Jan Arminio - JCAPS Vol. 5 Issue 2
NACA has recently released an updated Research Agenda to support the work of campus activities professionals that includes a more specific focus on and integration of values related to equity, diversity, and inclusion and student belonging. With this update in mind, JCAPS has dedicated this special issue to these topics including:
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How can campus activities professionals cultivate environments which holistically include and support all students – particularly those representing systemically underserved communities?
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How can campus activities professionals move beyond programming that is representative of the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of students to more holistically address the marginalization and oppression experiences by minoritized populations?
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How can campus activities professionals lead and guide efforts to challenge systemic oppression on their campuses?
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How can campus activities professionals respect and affirm the intersecting identities of students?
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In what ways do campus activities professionals negotiate their own identities (from privileged and mi- noritized lenses) as they support student programming?
Moreover, in a 2022 JCAPS article, Peck et al., posited that in a Venn diagram of the concepts of diversity, inclusion, and equity, their intersection would be sense of belonging. They continued that achieving a sense of belonging of all students requires involvement and engagement of all students. Beyond the celebratory cultural events campus activities are probably most noted for, they wrote that our profession must engage in the active anti-racist movement, change oppressive structures (e.g., budgets, policies, marketing strategies) and staff behaviors (e.g., mentoring, advising, leadership education) to ultimately ensure 100% engagement. The articles to follow offer insights into how this can be achieved.
To frame and introduce the individual articles to follow, Special Guest Editor Dr. Mamta Accapadi, former Vice President for Student Affairs and currently Higher Education Consulting Director, Huron Group, was inter- viewed by JCAPS Advisory Board member Dr. Jan Arminio.
