Victoria Alexander

Anti-Blackness | Beyond the Hashtag

On a systematic level, many US institutions and organizations continue to perpetuate anti-Blackness. This program focuses on personal reflection and growth opportunities to combat internalized anti-Blackness and its manifestations on various levels of the college experience. Some manifestations of anti-Blackness include: white favoritism in socialization, risk-management practices, and Black representation in leadership.

Victoria uses research, data, and narrative to guide folks to recognize, challenge and change anti-Black attitudes and behaviors in the world around them and even deep within themselves. Even if uncomfortable, we can’t solve a problem we won’t admit exists. Here, it’s not about perfection. It’s about progress.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will:

• Increase their levels of awareness of deeply internalized anti-Black bias and its manifestations within colleges and universities
• Be empowered to identify, challenge, and change implicit and explicit cultures of anti-Black bias within the selves, their organization, and their community
• Be equipped with a toolkit of knowledge, background, vocabulary, and strategies to combat bias and support marginalized members and communities as active allies.

What We Don’t Think… We Think

We all have implicit biases, you, me, everyone. Implicit bias is part of how our brains are wired BUT that does not mean we can’t change them for the better! Victoria uses research, data, and narrative to guide folks to recognize, challenge and change bias in the world around them and even deep within themselves. Even if it can be uncomfortable to admit we are people with biases, we can’t solve a problem we won’t admit exists. Recognition is just the first step as Victoria leads participants through creating powerful and sustainable change in our organizations, communities, and ourselves.

The topics explored include race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, ability, and intersectionality. Historically and/or predominately white organizations and universities may be ill-equipped to support the growing diversity of college student populations, and the increasing demand to speak out against bias. It is more important than ever to support students, institutions, and organizations with knowledge and resources to be active and intentional allies to marginalized communities and in the broader communities in which they move.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will:

• Be empowered with the knowledge and strategies necessary to know when and how to recognize and intervene in against bias and marginalization
• Learn how to identify the differences between passive allyship, performative allyship, saviorship, and active allyship
• Learn how to operate out of a growth mindset and embrace the many ways to identify how to consistently practice self-introspection; to leverage one’s own power and privilege toward active allyship.

When I Liberate Myself, I Liberate Others.

This program focuses on personal reflection and growth opportunities for people of color to combat internalized bias and its manifestations on various levels of their personal and/or experience. The title of this program borrows from Miss Fannie Lou Hammer, a Civil Rights activist who said, “When I liberate myself, I liberate others. If you don’t speak out ain’t nobody going to speak out for you.” We will work together to recognize, challenge, and change our biases be they against other communities or internalized against our own. Biases we will unpack and explore include racism, sexism, heterosexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, islamophobia, antisemitism, colorism, and body shape and size. We center on intersectionality to understand the unique marginalizations experienced by those with multiple marginalized identities. Here, it’s not about perfection, it’s about progress.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will:

• Increase their levels of awareness of deeply internalized social bias and its manifestations within their organization, community, and themselves,
• Be equipped with a toolkit of knowledge, background, vocabulary, and strategies to combat bias and support marginalized people and communities,
• Be empowered to rest and feel joy as that is a tool of resistance, and
• Build coalition within and between groups because we are stronger together.

What do we mean, “Values Based Organizations”? Race, class, gender, and sexuality in Fraternity and Sorority Life

Fraternities and sororities have a long and storied history. Some aspects are positive and worth accolades. Others are marked by exclusion, hate, and vitriol. We can’t tell the stories of our organizations, or fully understand our groups without a full picture of the history of race, class, gender, and sexuality in fraternity and sorority life. Let’s move past the information on the website and in the new member education pamphlet.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will:

• Gain a greater understanding of the historical relationships between privilege, identity, bias, discrimination, and fraternity/sorority life specifically as it relates to race, class, gender, and sexuality
• Become more familiar with each National Council/Umbrella organization
• Understand and honor the culturally based fraternal experience
• Acknowledge the discriminatory history of many fraternal organizations
• Recognize the impact of stereotype threat phenomenon
• Locate ways privilege, bias, and discrimination continue to permeate the fraternity/sorority experience
• Identify means to generate welcoming and affirmative spaces for all students who seek membership in fraternities and sororities