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OAE Resources

Penn State Equity Resources

Includes various internal and external offices, centers, opportunities and resources.

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Additional Resources for Faculty

Senior faculty mentors organized through the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity offer several resources to encourage community.

They include:

  • Community and Conversation: Faculty Women Coffee Talk Fridays
  • Community and Conversation: Faculty Development Workshop
  • Scholars’ Circles: Virtual Writing and Creative Work Groups
  • Pre-Tenure and the Faculty of Color Experience

These are wonderful opportunities to find support and share community with university and college peers. For more information, dates, and times, please visit the Faculty Pathway Workshops site.

Antiracist Glossary and Terms

The murder of George Floyd in May 2020 opened long-held wounds in communities of color and a reckoning with racism and social justice movements in our country. Various terminology has emerged, and some have been redefined within the spirit of our current moment. These terms are fluid and perpetually in motion. This list of over 100 terms from the NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, represents a comprehensive and fairly up-to-date accounting and contextualization of current terminology with references for further study. A cursory review is recommended to know what is included, as a guide for classroom and other discourse and research, and to contribute to a common language we can use at our college and with our colleagues within the university-at-large.

Compilation of the NASPA Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community Terminology Guide was coordinated by Dr. Jasmine D. Collins (2020-21)

View the NASPA Community Terminology Guide

Free Speech on Campus

We are in a time of heightened political activity. The Provost’s office has developed a site with numerous resources to help everyone navigate the current political landscape and to understand free speech protections. There are a wide variety of tools and information provided.

The Safer People Safer Places Network for Everyone

Would you like to be more informed about how to contribute to inclusive environments for sexual and gender diversity, or to find community? The Safer People Safer Places network is a campus-wide program designed to raise visibility of the LGBTQIA+ population, increase the understanding of issues facing LGBTQIA+ students, faculty, and staff, and raise the awareness of the various resources available across Penn State. Information about their schedule of workshops and other resources can be found here. LGBTQIA+ faculty and staff looking for community can email Sonya Wilmoth to join Rainbow Roar, an employee resource group.

Understanding the SCOTUS Ruling on Race-Conscious Admissions

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in “Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard College and University of North Carolina” (SFFA) struck down colleges’ use of race-conscious admissions nationwide. The following resources discuss the ruling and impacts.

Creating a Culture of Belonging in Your Department

As a part of the Chronicle’s Strategic Leadership program, they conducted a webinar via Zoom on June 14, 2023, with Stephanie White, Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, University of Kentucky, moderated Liz McMillen, Executive Editor, Chronicle Intelligence. You can find the recording and Q&A below:

Resources to Help Navigate Challenging Times

Resources from Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence (SITE) for Teaching in Times of Conflict:

  • From the Management Center (June 2020). – While many of these resources apply to supporting and relieving the trauma experienced by Black colleagues (they were developed after the murder of George Floyd), they apply to other groups as well, and offer resources for everyone.
  • ERE (Education for Racial Equity) – Education for Racial Equity is a non-profit organization committed to dismantling the global system of white supremacy, and cultivation cultures of wholeness. They offer educational events which inspire personal, cultural and systematic transformation. Guided by the principles of Anti-racist activism, they practice communal healing for collective liberation.
  • Ibram X. Kendi’s Anti-racist Reading List
  • Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research

Working with White Supremacy & Privilege

  • Unpacking White Saviorism by Annie Windholz (Medium) – How white and western society’s desire to help can do more harm than good.
  • Me & White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad – Over 80,000 people downloaded her guide to the movement, Me and White Supremacy Workbook in the space of just six months. Me and White Supremacy: A 28-Day Challenge to Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor leads readers through a journey of understanding their white privilege and participation in white supremacy, so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on black, indigenous and people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too. The book goes beyond the original workbook by adding more historical and cultural contexts, sharing moving stories and anecdotes, and includes expanded definitions, examples, and further resources.
  • The 5 Methods of Divestment & Weaponization of White Power & Privilege from Community Ready Corps (CRC) – CRC’s objective is to build or contribute to the self-determination of disenfranchised communities and work towards the empowerment of oppressed peoples.

Note: Resources in this section primarily from “15 Top Questions on Becoming an Antiracist Leader Answered,” developed by TORCH, Dr. A. Breeze Harper & Dr. Keenan Walden.

“I don’t see color, everybody is equal,”

Why this statement can be a hurtful position that does not acknowledge systemic racism, anti-racist bias or white privilege.

Resources that respond to: “Don’t All Lives Matter?”

Resources of Support for People of Color & other marginalized groups

Previous OAE workshops


“Awareness is the key to liberation. We can’t get free from something that we can’t see.”

– Lama Rod Owens