Starting today, both UTRGV campuses will provide LEAP (Learn, Empower, Advance, Promote), a workshop series that helps enhance students’ knowledge about diversity and inclusion.
“This is a brand-new workshop series that we developed over the summer with the [Center for Diversity and Inclusion and DREAM Resource Center],” said LEAP Program Coordinator Aaron Hinojosa. “The basic idea is to help students, to help educate on different topics regarding diversity. If students come to all five workshops, they can become LEAP educators, which it will mean they will help lead the next ones for the following year. … They can sign up as advocates for diversity and inclusion … so, these educators agreed to be these people, to always be learning, to always be advocating for positive change.”
LEAP will consist of five different workshops: diversity and inclusion, privilege, intersectionality, discrimination, ally and support. The workshops will contain interactive exercises, group discussions, media displays and more.
“LEAP is created in order to represent and talk about diversity on campus and the different things that the university has to offer,” said Melody Perez, a graduate student assistant and speaker for LEAP. “The one I am most excited about is discrimination. … We really don’t consider the minorities that we have on campus and we are going to have some students from the Muslim Student Association talking about that.”
With over 1,000 international students from countries like India, China, South Korea and Bangladesh, the LEAP workshop is highly encouraged.
“Most of our students are Hispanic, so there’s not a lot of representation,” Luis Macias, a LEAP graduate student assistant said. “There are not a lot of students who are, maybe, Muslim, or different backgrounds. So, with these workshops, we aspire for them to be, … for these underrepresented students to feel more at home. I hope people come. … You hear about there being more inclusivity, more diversity [at] UT Austin, you know, these big campuses. … Being a native from the Valley, it will mean so much for me to see the Valley grow and become more inclusive and progress from this secluded mentality.”
For more information, email dreamer@utrgv.edu or call 665-2260.
