Lake/Sumter AAUW's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, formed in 2018, was charged with supporting our branch commitment to DEI, enhancing members' awareness of diversity issues, and providing programming for members and guests to learn about other racial, ethnic, and cultural groups.

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Our committee does all that, and more.

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In 2019, DEI hosted a successful International Food Tasting and Dance Performance (our "member-servers" pictured above), which also served as a fundraiser for Tech Trek and college scholarships.

 

The Committee's plans were put on hold due to Covid. But we shifted into high gear after the murder of George Floyd, launched an online Racism Discussion Series focused on racism, which was free and open to members and non-memers alike. Discussion topics were: Racism 101, White Privilege, Anti-Racism, Implicit Bias, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, Microaggressions, Confederate Monuments, Systemic Racism in Housing, Systemic Racism in Voting. All  discussion sessions were recorded and are available for viewing on our branch YouTube Channel, except the one on White Privilege, which is available here.

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2023 - 2024 Programs

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• Inclusion Infusion: We will continue these segments at General Meetings, with an emphasis on race amity.
   

• Banned Books Reading Group: On October 8, we will launch this new book discussion group with Caste: The  Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. The discussion will be from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the home of a DEI committee member, and reservations are required. We will hold two additional meetings of the Banned Book Reading Group this year, but dates and books have not yet been selected.

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• Diversity Movie Night: On November 12, the committee will show and discuss the first of two films to be screened during the program year. The gathering will be from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the home of a DEI committee member. The title hasn’t been selected yet, but a light supper will be served, and reservations are required.

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• Great Reads from the DEI Committee: The committee will continue to submit recommendations for the column in the monthly newsletter.

 

Other Resources

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AAUW members now have a DEI Toolkit available to them on National AAUW's website. This resource contains information, ideas, and materials to help branches and State affiliates create DEI programming. And AAUW-Florida offers recordings of their Diversity Dialogues that other branches can also use in their DEI programming.

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