B4 Dialogue Series

During this installment of the B4 series, Basic Needs Center Director, Kiyoko Thomas, moderated a panel featuring:

- cici ambrosio, Gender Equity Resource Center Director

- Lucy Andrews, Graduate Assembly President and Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management

- Tobirus M. Newby, University Health Services Director of Social Services

They examined the role safety plays as UC Berkeley commits to fostering a campus community of belonging. Each panelist draws from their professional and lived experience and talk about pathways to a culture of safety that extends beyond policy and into the daily lives of the folks on, around, and beyond our campus.

[October, 2022] During this installment of the B4 series, we continued asking critical questions about disability justice including: How could we refigure campus and shift climate and culture to foster the critical dialogues required to dismantle ableism? What has the campus COVID response taught us about the possibilities and limits of accommodations and the circuits and systems of power that grant them? How would the collective aims of a campus community centered on “thriving” be shaped if we valued and centered autonomy and self-determination?

Our panelists included campus community practitioners engaging in the critical work of disability justice, Ben Perez (he/him) Disability Compliance, Carolyn Swalina (she/her) DSP, Ann Wai-Yee Kwong (she/her) Disability Cultural Center.

The panel was moderated by Martha Velasquez (she/her), Associate Director, Disabled Students’ Program.

During this installment of the B4 series, we delved into a series of critical questions about land acknowledgments, land grant institutions, and how institutions can move toward justice and healing for Native American communities:

1. How and why do we create and use land acknowledgments?

2. What do we understand about the history of land grant institutions and their impact on Native communities, and what does that mean in the context of California history?

3. What are actions that can move institutions and higher education practitioners towards both acknowledging a history of harm to Native communities and engaging in a process of healing?

Our panelists included campus community practitioners engaging in critical work and Native American issues, Phenocia Bauerle (she/they), Director of Native American Student Development; Merri Lopez-Kiefer (she), Director of the Office of Native American Affairs, Office of the California Attorney General; and Antonette Cordero (she), Clinical Supervising Attorney, Environmental Law Clinic, Berkeley Law.

During this installment of the B4 series, we delved into a series of critical questions about disability justice with panelists: - Karen Nakamura, Professor of Cultural Anthropology & Haas Distinguished Chair of Disability Studies - Rosa Enriquez, Master’s Student, School of Social Welfare & Graduate Assembly - Carlos Vásquez, Undergraduate Student & Co-Chair, ASUC Disabled Students Commission - Derek Coates, PhD., Manager, Program Access Compliance, Office of Disability Access & Compliance - Steve Johnston, Policy & Investigations Manager, Office of Disability Access & Compliance.

The panel was moderated by Ella Callow ADA/504 Compliance Officer, Office of Disability Access & Compliance.