“Who’s Allowed In?” Cultural Assets and Advocacy: through identity poems, research, and artistic expression

Presenter(s): Kate Ackell, Katrina Baker, Hadlie Cyrus, Brynn Estrada, Coltin Hill, Kennedy Holcomb, Faith Hsieh, Nisren Levin, Khai Perry, Jackie Ramirez-Tobon, Lulu Rivera, Nellie Sears, Erin Smith, Georgia Wells, Katey Williams

Faculty Mentor(s): Jeanne Hall

Session 4: Who’s Allowed In?

The cultural assets and identities of underrepresented university students are not always valued or understood, especially in predominantly White institutions . Therefore, the purpose of this Runway
is to question and explore how social systems have not provided equitable educational access for underrepresented students . In the Fall 2019, the “Who’s Allowed In?” year-long first-year students Runway community focused on supporting and developing each other’s racial and other identities . The Winter 2020 discussions developed and discussed about each other’s scholarly identity within our university, and the Spring 2020 now provides opportunities for each student to advocate for equity . Based on the inspiration of Christensen’s (2015) activist approach to poetry, and with the online research support of the UO libraries, each student will present and advocate for their cultural assets, or advocate for other underrepresented identities, through the presentation of their identity poem, research, and artistic expression .