Belonging

This iterative process demands energy, effective leadership, resources, and a readiness to reevaluate the experiences of both students and staff. Fortunately, housing and residence life organizations are well-positioned to play a crucial role in championing the creation of inclusive communities. When empowered, these departments can utilize models to articulate values, pinpoint essential skills, establish processes, enhance practices, and refine organizational structures.

The path to developing inclusive communities will involve a variety of models encompassing stated assumptions, guiding values, essential skills, thoughtful processes, and organizational structures for action. These values guide the principles and expected behaviors of inclusive community development.

The skills encompass the qualities, abilities, and dispositions necessary for realizing the goal. The processes detail the work of inclusive communities and capture distinctive approaches. Lastly, structures illuminate elements that can be leveraged to advance the cause.

Driven by a liberatory mindset, housing operations can address challenges, identify inequalities, and create new approaches that increase opportunities for those most impacted by oppression. They can build empathy and understand the experiences of others, which leads to designing for specific contexts and the needs of particular communities.