“If a student has been given a fair try at a class and fails, who is to say they should be able to underperform and pass simply because they are not White?": Student Views on Inclusion Statements

Program Abstract: I know that quote in the title is shocking, but that is a response to a survey question from a chemistry major when asked for suggestions on how to improve our departmental inclusion statement. This presentation will situate within the interdisciplinary literature base the process of authoring, revising, and implementing both department-level and individual inclusion statements. After completing my own statement for my course syllabi, I then served on the ad hoc committee to develop our department’s statement. Upon completion of both, I surveyed students in General Chemistry I and a 400-level Nature of Science class for pre-service teachers, as well as our majors. In this session, I will share lessons learned through the writing and feedback processes, including differences in responses from various student populations, ways to manage reluctance from colleagues, and recommendations for framing the various levels of statements (individual, department, college, and university).