AICAD Community Agreement

Anytime people gather as a group, we form both a community and a culture. The mission of all AICAD events is to provide a platform for students, faculty, and administrators that is inclusive, respectful, curious, and kind. Our goal is to create a space for individuals to learn and flourish, to empower themselves and others through conversations about topics that may be particularly difficult.

Community Agreements help us identify practices and tools that we can use to challenge ourselves and each other while still recognizing that we're all coming from different places of knowing and learning. All conference participants have the responsibility to abide by these agreements. Please be mindful of your own actions, be open to observations of your behavior, and be open to sharing feedback with others regarding their actions.

Language is important – Use appropriate pronouns and inclusive language. Choosing your words thoughtfully helps to create a space that is more welcoming for everyone.

One Speaker – Please, only one speaker at a time. Respect those that are speaking by giving your full attention. Allow time between speakers to give a moment for those who need to process or are less comfortable speaking up.

No One Knows Everything, Together We Know A Lot – In any conversation, particularly ones about systemic issues, each participant will have different experiences and embodied expertise. Each person has something meaningful to contribute to the conversation. Share what you know and look to learn from others.

Speak from Your Own Experience – Avoid statements that make generalizations.

Challenge the Idea, Not the Person - You can always challenge the idea or belief, not the person. Ideas are not people, but people identify with and embrace them. Sometimes they think the idea is the truth when the reality is that it is not. Those who embrace ideas sometimes feel persecuted when it is not them, but the idea that is in question. You are not your ideas, but the awareness behind them.

Call people in, not out – Not everyone participating will have the same knowledge and experience. If you accidentally use a harmful term, take responsibility. In the same respect, if you hear someone make a harmful statement, correct that statement using an educated tone without attacking or publicly shaming.

Racism, ageism, homophobia, sexism, transphobia, ableism, or prejudice based on ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, gender presentation, language ability, asylum status or religious affiliation is neither accepted nor welcome.

In addition to this agreement, AICAD holds certain assumptions that are the foundation for everything we work to accomplish at the Symposium. These assumptions were originally articulated by AORTA (The Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance), and are borrowed with much gratitude:

• We assume our own power and maintain our humility.
• We anchor our approach in systemic, cultural, and organizational transformation.
• We all both benefit from and are harmed by systemic oppression.
• Dismantling systems of oppression will benefit everyone.
• All systems of oppression are interconnected.
• The work is not the workshop.
• Significant change often comes slowly & requires effort.
• Collective liberation is possible. Conflict and change are moments of great potential. We move into these powerful opportunities with a spirit of hope, love, and willingness to transform.