Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

The One Book, One CSUF program is in its second year at Cal State Fullerton. The Titans Together: Striving for Justice, Equity, and Inclusion initiative introduced this program to campus in 2020 in order to foster discussion, challenge perceptions, and promote a sense of unity on campus, utilizing stories that celebrate or highlight themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

ASI encourages its staff and students to add their voices to the conversation by participating in the various programming and educational opportunities developed by Titans Together, the ASI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team, and ASI Student Programs and Engagement.

This year, Cal State Fullerton chose They Called Us Enemy by George Takei. They Called Us Enemy is a graphic novel that tells the story of George Takei’s life from the time he was in internment camps all the way until the present day. They Called Us Enemy tackles many themes, including resiliency, fear racism, the power of language, collective and personal trauma, and shame, while exploring historical aspects of American democracy and civic engagement. Several of these themes will be discussed throughout the Spring 2022 semester in ASI’s Book Discussion groups.

Diversity – differences of individuals within a group that can encompass gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, nationality, (dis)ability, language, religion, age, or political affiliation

Equity – the process of making sure each person has a fair chance by recognizing each person might have a different starting point

Inclusion – the practice of making sure everyone feels welcome regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status, political affiliation, language, nationality, or (dis)ability

Anti-Racism – actively working to combat racism through first recognizing that systemic racism does happen and is part of everyday life, and then through this understanding, working to actively counter that by promoting racial justice and equality within the workplace

Bias – a natural psychological process that results in unwarranted opinions or hostile feelings about a social group that is perceived as different from one’s own. Although this is a natural psychological process that comes as a result of socialization in a biased world, recognizing it and countering it are pivotal to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work

Social Justice – the practice of advocating for equal opportunities and the fair distribution of resources for all people within a society, especially those who have been historically marginalized, and those that continue to be systemically marginalized today

Prejudice – like Bias, this is also a natural psychological process that results in negative attitudes, feelings, or options of other social group that are not based in fact