Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

Celebrating Celebrate Native and Indigenous Heritage Month!

November is Native & Indigenous Heritage Month, also referred to National American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month or Native American Heritage Month. This month commemorates the histories, cultures, and traditions of Native people. Now is the time to learn more about native tribes and familiarize yourself with the indigenous stewards of the land you now occupy.

The goal of observing Native and Indigenous Peoples month is to honor, acknowledge and highlight Native American tribes and nations, as well as their diverse and rich traditions. It’s also a chance to consider and name with accuracy the history of distresses such as theft including the stripping of home and land, forced removal and cultural assimilation in our nation. It is a time to paint the truth. Many Indigenous tribes throughout the country view the holiday known as “Thanksgiving” as a National Day of Mourning. It is essential to recognize and value that Native Indigenous communities survived and are present. Our support has the power to their voices can be centered and heard. Join us, to dispel preconceived notions of indigeneity and to better understand indigenous intersectional identities (Gonzalez, 2023).

Metropolitan State University of Denver resides on the ancestral lands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Sioux, and Ute people, all of whom still are in an ongoing relationship with this land. One of the ways we fight the erasure of Indigenous peoples is by recognizing the history that brought settlers, whether voluntary or formerly enslaved, to occupy this land. Here, that history is the Colorado Gold Rush of 1858 and 1859, where settlements like Auraria and Denver as well as other land grabs for gold mining that devastated the land and interrupted Ute and Cheyenne ways of living. Over the course of the next 20 years and the next rushes to take silver from the ground, the Cheyenne and Ute were displaced from this area, their homeland. By knowing this history, we can better understand our place within it and seek to be in the right relationship with the people who were here before us, and with the lands we, too, must steward in our work. 

MSU Denver Events

In recognition of Native Indigenous Heritage Month in November, the Center for Equity and Student Achievement (CESA), the Center for Multicultural Engagement and Inclusion (CMEI), MSU Denver’s Lacrosse Club, and the University of Colorado Denver Center for Identity and Inclusion (CII), will be hosting a variety of events to educate the campus on issues that are pertinent to the Native Indigenous communities. It is especially important to understand that Native Indigenous communities still exist and with your support, their voices can be centered and heard. Join us, to dispel preconceived notions of indigeneity and to better understand indigenous intersectional identities. Visit the CMEI website to learn more about these events.

Land Acknowledgement by Gracie RedShirt Tyon, Lakota

“Acknowledging that we reside in the homelands of Indigenous Peoples is an important step in recognizing the history and the original stewards of these lands. Land acknowledgments must extend far beyond words, the United States has worked hard to erase the narratives of Indigenous Peoples over time. Land acknowledgment statements can help to remind us of the history, the contributions and the sacrifices Native peoples have made.

We honor and acknowledge that we are on the traditional territories and ancestral homelands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute nations. This area, specifically the confluence of the Platte and Cherry Creek Rivers was the epicenter for trade, information sharing, planning for the future, community, family and ally building, as well as conducting healing ceremonies for over 45 Indigenous Nations, including the Lakota, Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, Shoshone, Paiute, Zuni, Hopi among others.

We must recognize Indigenous peoples as the original stewards of this land and as these words of acknowledgment are spoken and heard, remember the ties these nations still have to their traditional homelands. Let us acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory and pay our respect to the diverse Indigenous peoples still connected to this land. Let us also give thanks to all Tribal Nations and the ancestors of this place.”

DEI Highlight Corner

Welcome Statement

To our Social Work Community:

MSU Denver Department of Social Work has embarked on a journey to provide the necessary supports and resources to the department to ensure that we create a culturally responsive professional and academic learning environment truly rooted in an anti-oppressive social work practice.  We invite the Department, students, and partnering agencies to actively engage in and create spaces for critical reflexivity, self-awareness, and discussions around the dismantling of oppressive systems.

The social work profession is built upon a set of core values that recognize the “dignity and worth of the person,” “the importance of human relationships,” and “social justice” (NASW, 2021, preamble).  MSU Denver strongly believes that social work education is based on belief that reform is necessary within most social systems, whereby the social work curriculum is uniquely situated to provide the basic understanding and implementation of incremental and significant changes across the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.  Understanding how discrimination characterizes and shapes the human experience and development of identity, diversity, equity, and inclusion work must be recognized as foundational to the social work education experience.

Please join the Department as we hold brave spaces to embrace intersectional identifies and confront oppressive systems.

Student Affinity Spaces

Student Affinity Spaces are a place where groups of people are drawn together because of shared strong interests, characteristics or engagement in a common activity. The goals of affinity spaces are:

• Provide a space of belonging for individuals
• The aim is to allow space for individuals to engage in reflexive, vulnerable conversations that are supportive and promote growth

If you have questions about any of the student affinity groups, please email the group facilitator. As meeting times are identified for affinity groups, they will be listed below.

Pedagogy & Diversity Workshops

Pedagogy & Diversity (P&D) workshops welcome all social work faculty and staff. The goals of P&D workshops are:

• to provide a space where faculty and staff can have candid conversations about training, education and support related to teaching and facilitating critical conversations about diversity and social justice
• to serve as a place where individuals can discuss how issues of diversity, intersectionality and oppression influence teaching, classroom environments, student interactions and the overall campus culture and climate.
• to deepen the capacity of individuals to explore and develop their awareness and skill to manage critical conversations.

For more information, contact Dr. Julie Clockston via email at [email protected]

University Groups & Resources

Office of Diversity and Inclusion

Center for Multicultural Engagement and Inclusion