Every first Tuesday of October, we celebrate Diversity Day on campus. This year, Diversity Day fell on Tuesday 1 October. Entirely dedicated to the theme ‘Diversity enriches’, Radboud University organised an afternoon of activities around diversity, equality, and inclusion.
Diversity Day included faculty DEI lunches, several lunch walks with the Radboud Campus Naming Committee, and presenter and programme maker Eva Eikhout humorously sharing her personal experiences with diversity, equality, and inclusion. Visitors also had the opportunity attend training sessions, workshops, and mini lectures.
Each faculty has its own DEI committee, which aims to promote diversity, equality, and inclusion within the faculty.
During the lunches, all students and staff were invited to listen and share their experiences. And they certainly did, judging by the large number of registrations! At the Faculty of Science, the DEI committee organised a quiz with important questions, such as: How many female professors work at Radboud University? In which year was Leiden University, the first university to grant admission to female students, established?
The bad weather did not stop us from walking around the green campus. The Radboud Campus Naming Committee was really curious as to what or who the university should name its campus streets and buildings after. All walkers enthusiastically shared their ideas and discovered new things about scholars and students from the distant past.
Eva Eikhout (programme maker and presenter) gave a speech. Eva has arms and legs – they are just shorter. A disability that obviously presents her with challenges, but also makes her life unique. She shared what diversity, equality, and inclusion has meant to her when it comes to going to school, working, relationships, dancing, and being cared for. “When I started university, I had to have conversations with people about adjustments. After all, I can’t simply use a normal toilet. The woman I was speaking to reacted in surprise: ‘Having our toilet modified? We aren’t a hospital!’” In her keynote, Eva said: “What helps me? You can achieve a lot with communication.”
Following Eva's interesting lecture, participants could choose from a wide range of mini-lectures, training sessions, and workshops. For example, in DEI Student Ambassador Vero Palm's Inclusive Education workshop, lecturers were invited to explore and reflect on ways they could make sure that every student felt heard and supported. Meanwhile, researchers Marjolein Dennissen and Daniel DeRock taught their audience about concepts such as intersectionality and inclusion, while family law professor Machteld Vonk offered a crash course on trans and non-binary rights.
In the meantime, Caro Struijke, language trainer at Radboud In'to Languages, gave a workshop on giving inclusive feedback, in which she talked about the different feedback styles, and gave tips on how to give and receive feedback.
