New to the COE: BIPOC Affinity Group
The Education Program in the COE now offers an Affinity Group for any student that identifies as BIPOC!
The Affinity Group was created to support teacher candidates of color. Micah Walker, the director of the group and a Education Professor, explained,
“When we look at Oregon’s teacher workforce, our BIPOC teachers do not represent our BIPOC students.”
Therefore, the group focuses on providing an affinity space* to assist students of color who will soon be starting their professional lives in education.
The goal of the group is to form and establish support systems for students of color that will carry over into their professional lives.
The Affinity Group meets once every month. The meetings are led by the students’ curiosities, questions, and needs. For example, this month the meeting will focus on employment. The meeting will provide students with a place to get feedback on their resumes and practice for a professional interview.
Although the group is currently for students in the Education Program, Professor Walker encourages BIPOC Pre-Education students to attend the meetings as well.
Furthermore, Professor Walker mentioned that she hopes this Affinity Group will inspire other groups of students in the COE to create Affinity Groups that represent their identity(s).
*Affinity space- a group of people that share a commonality or a common identity.
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