The AACRAO caucuses kicked off the 2018 Annual Meeting in Orlando with a joint session featuring chairs and representatives from each of the caucuses – LGBTQIA, Latino/Latina, Asian-Pacific Islander, Native American, and Black. The overarching goal of each of the caucuses is to create and sustain diversity and inclusion within the professions that AACRAO serves, while building a community of higher education administrators with common interests and goals. The presenters discussed their challenges and successes, and encouraged audience members to get involved and learn more by attending additional programming at the meeting.
LGBTQIA Caucus
Sam Fugazzotto from Teachers College at Columbia University began the conversation and emphasized the caucus’s role in helping to find innovative ways to support the LGBTQIA populations—administrators and students—at institutions.
Related sessions at the Annual Meeting are:
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Beyond Pronouns and Policy: Moving Towards Trans-Inclusive Policies (Monday, 1:15 pm)
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LGBTQIA Caucus Meeting (Monday, 4 pm)
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Encouraging Progress: Change Management and Transgender Resources (Wednesday, 8 am)
Latino/Latina Caucus
Cindy Lambert from Benedictine University, Chair of the Latino/Latina Caucus, talked about the struggles the caucus has faced and how the caucus is working to rebuild. She described it as “young and up-and-coming”—making it a strong jumping point for professionals looking to start or grow their involvement with AACRAO.
Sessions related to the Latino/Latina Caucus include:
Asian-Pacific Islander Caucus
A lack of diversity and inclusion is a common topic that both professionals and students encounter on campus, according to caucus chair Bernard Ramos from Educational Perspectives, nfp. He stressed the importance of growing the caucus membership and the need for strong leadership within the caucus.
Related Annual Meeting sessions include:
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Asian-Pacific Islander Caucus: A Forum for Inclusion and Engagement (Tuesday, 1 pm)
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Looking Beyond: ‘We’re Not all the Same Asians’ (Wednesday, 8 am)
Native American Caucus
To allow the chairs to reach out to attendees, William DeWolf from Emerson College emphasized the need for self-identification when registering for AACRAO’s Annual Meeting. He also stated that a goal of the caucus is to increase its visibility.
Black Caucus
The Black Caucus has had a long and active history within AACRAO. Kristy Goodwin from Governors State University discussed the steps the caucus has taken to keep its members engaged and informed. These include a newsletter and monthly meetings, and recruiting and retaining eager and dedicated leadership.
Sessions related to the Black Caucus include:
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Black Women Leaders Managing Work-Life Balance (Tuesday, 1 pm)
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Roundtable: Leading in Inequality (Tuesday, 5 pm)
The Caucuses are Looking for You
A common link between the caucuses is developing, promoting, and sustaining cultures of inclusion. This includes supporting one another, gaining exposure for the caucuses and their members, and getting individuals to present sessions on the topics that impact these specific populations, but are universal across higher education. The chairs encourage anyone who is interested to contact them or attend one or more of the sessions listed above and get involved. Learn more. It’s as simple as that!