November 16 was a “Day Zero” on the College calendar: a day in which UWC Adriatic students, faculty, administrative staff and support staff members put their daily activities on hold and came together for an entire day about ARDEI – Antiracism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It turned out to be a day that left the College community feeling grateful for all the energy and enthusiasm with which everyone engaged with the activities and sessions, most of which were interactive — with only a brief plenary introductory session and one at the end — and everyone splitting up into smaller groups both for the morning activities and for the afternoon TED-style talks.
The programme for that day was directed at three main aims: developing understanding across the community of the key terms and ideas relating to anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion; encouraging discussion and sharing of experiences and views on these topics and learning about different forms of inequality, prejudice and discrimination and ways to address these in our everyday life.
The entire programme was planned and rolled out by an organising team composed of both first- and second-year students: Anuj (Canada), Arjin (Turkey), Babylyn (Ghana), Giovanna (Italy), Haya (Lebanon), Ivayla (Bulgaria), Joshua (Jamaica), Laidon (Albania), Pearl (Malta), Regina (Mexico), Margary (Mozambique), Matilde (Italy), Mercedes (UK), Violette (Belgium), and Zoya (India). At a very busy time of the year, they made time for many meetings, worked on countless spreadsheets and put in the work to make this day happen, with precious support from Aparna, Deputy Head Pastoral, Laura, Head of the English Department and Miriam, the College Study Support Coordinator.
The first ARDEI Day at our College was successful in creating opportunities for thought-provoking conversations and sowing the seeds for furthering this work. Implementing ARDEI across an institution is a community effort that requires time, as is always the case with culture change. But the ARDEI ball is now rolling at UWC Adriatic.
The presentations prepared by the organisers are available below. For any further information please contact the following email address.
