Social Justice Summit

The Social Justice Summit is held each February.  Formerly known as the Multicultural Leadership Summit, this program is now in its thirteenth year and continues to provide students with the opportunity to increase their awareness surrounding issues of inclusion and to develop action plans that will assist them in being agents of change on campus. Registration is free and open to ISU students.

Guest Presenter: Vijay Pendakur - Director for the Office of Multicultural Student Success at DePaul University - will help you take a look at, the identities we carry and how social systems of power, privilege, and oppression impact our lived experiences in contemporary American society.

Social justice is the continuous process of eliminating ignorance and prejudice through education and advocacy to bring about greater equity among all members of society and ensuring every dimension of identity is not oppressed by society as a whole.  Social justice is a process in which we strive to eliminate the roots oppression  through education and the redistribution of resources, opportunities, and responsibilities. In the pursuit of social justice we must use education as a tool to empower the people so that we can eliminate  the oppression of all. Acting as one we must create an open, equitable, and just society.

Goals for the Summit

• To allow students to learn from each other in a safe environment and diverse setting.
• To allow participants the opportunity to learn more about "who they are" and "what they bring" to the ISU campus.
• To provide opportunities for students to develop personal goals and an action plan in the areas of diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice.
• To provide an opportunity for participants to build coalitions with students "similar to" and "different from" themselves to achieve mutual goals for social change.
• To create specific action steps as a group in order to have short term and long term goals.
• To connect, reflect, network, and commit to social change through their personal action plan, following the Social Justice Summit.

The 2011 and 2012 summits featured Becky Martinez. Here are some comments from the  participants:

• I really enjoyed her interactive approach. She helped break down barriers and helped us be comfortable with the topics and each other. I feel she was a very good facilitator, honest and sincere.
• Becky is a great facilitator!!!  She has a remarkable approach and delivery for social justice topics and very effective in facilitating conversation and activities.
• Becky was wonderful. She brought a lot to the table and encouraged everyone to branch out into an uncomfortable area to learn from one another.
• The Social Justice Summit blew my mind and it was one of the best experiences I have ever had!
• The Summit also gave me a chance to appreciate all the benefits/luxuries that I have as a member of a dominant group in various domains.
• It more than exceeded my expectations. I was really nervous going into the Summit but it really helped me break out and open up. It was an amazing learning and growth experience for me.
• I learned a lot about myself and others. I was exposed to many different backgrounds. I learned how to facilitate change on the ISU campus and how to handle certain situations. 

Please contact sjsummit@iastate.edu with any questions or concerns.