LGBTQ+ Committee

IFO Statement on NY Times Article Featuring Racist Activities in St. Cloud

IFO Statement on NY Times Article Featuring Racist Activities in St. Cloud

As faculty and members of university communities, we uphold the values of equity and inclusion and advocate for people of color and immigrant community members, who make our institutions and our union stronger.

IFO Statement on Alleged Hate Crime at Metropolitan State University

IFO Statement on Alleged Hate Crime at Metropolitan State University

This incident reminds us that, while none of us can do everything, each of us can do something.

IFO Statement on the Terrorist Attack at New Zealand Mosques

IFO Statement on the Terrorist Attack at New Zealand Mosques

The IFO believes that diversity of all kinds makes us eminently stronger. We remain committed to bettering our world for our Muslim brothers and sisters, and all marginalized peoples who are made to feel unsafe or unwelcome in our communities. 

Registration is Open for the IFO LGBTQ+ Conference

We invite you to the Fourth Annual LGBTQ+ IFO Conference on Wednesday, March 27th. Register to attend here
 
Following the passage of a resolution at the 2018 IFO Delegate Assembly, faculty began to form Equity Caucuses (Faculty of Color, LGBTQ+, Women) on each of the seven campuses. The first Joint Equity Caucus meeting was held in summer 2018. Out of dialogues at that meeting came a framework for the 2019 IFO LGBTQ+ Conference which centers on intersecting oppressions and resistances.
 
It’s important to understand that the five criteria of our PDP/PDR process include support work in “multicultural, anti-oppression, and/or inclusion topics,“ and you are afforded professional development days supported by your IFO professional development funds to attend this conference. I hope you will take this opportunity to join us at the conference and engage in the critical organizing for social justice in the Union. 
 
This year, the central dialogue will be “Black Queer Femme Insights on Faculty Coalition Building in Higher Education” led by Dr. Mel Michelle Lewis, Director of the Center for Geographies of Justice and Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and Africana Studies at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, and Dr. Shannon J. Miller, Associate Professor and Chair (2015-2018) of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies at Minnesota State University, Mankato.  
 
The central dialogue will be followed by the forum "Same Corner of an Alien Heaven: Building Our Capacity for Truthtelling.” This forum will be facilitated by Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, the 2017-2019 Winton Chair in the Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota. It will be based on her extensive archival research and the oracle she has constructed on Audre Lorde, Black lesbian feminist truthteller and poet. This interactive lecture will contextualize and facilitate the practice of speaking beyond the silences between multiple oppressed people. 
 
Registration is open until March 26. Please register here: https://www.ifo.org/ifo-lgbtq-conference/

Greetings from IFO Equity Caucus Coordinator

Greetings from IFO Equity Caucus Coordinator

As these caucuses have formed, I’ve been excited to witness new leaders with new and needed perspectives emerging to join with longtime advocates for social justice.

2019 Minnesota Women's March

2019 Minnesota Women's March

Join your colleagues to at the 2019 MN Women’s March on 1/19/19 at 10 a.m.

Campus Equity Caucuses Begin this Fall

Campus Equity Caucuses Begin this Fall

If you are interested in working within your campus caucus or have any questions about how caucus representation works, please contact me.
 

IFO announces appointees to MinnState Equity and Inclusion Council

IFO announces appointees to MinnState Equity and Inclusion Council

Shannon Miller, Ajay Panicker and Kim Park Nelson to serve on the MinnState Equity and Inclusion Council.