DEI Statement

At the SJSU Writing Center, we are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (in alignment with San Jose State’s Office of DEI), and we strive for DEI principles to imbue all aspects of our work. During the 2020-2021 academic year, we established an anti-racism working group in the Writing Center, which included both student employees and members of our professional staff. We realize that DEI work is on-going and requires continuous self-reflection, so moving beyond the working group, we aim to examine our own biases; engage in training for Writing Center employees; and assess our policies, materials, and practices. 

We also continue to develop DEI resources related to writing, such as handouts about biased language and LGBTQ+ terminology and videos about writing with an antiracist perspective (as just a few examples). We created a Multilingual Writer Toolbox to provide a comprehensive overview of curated resources for multilingual learners. As part of our on-going DEI initiatives, we have worked to connect with other support services on campus--such as the MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center and the UndocuSpartan Resource Center--to collaborate and discover needs of various student communities.  

The Writing Center exists to support all members of the SJSU community, and we recognize that some forms of writing can be intensely personal. We are committed to treating students, their questions, and their assignments with respect and dignity; we recognize that every student is unique and that every assignment is different. Our writing tutors make their best attempt to work with students to improve their writing, and we accommodate various learning styles as much as possible. We are also committed to helping students learn how to write in an unbiased way. We value the diversity of languages spoken by Writing Center clients and recognize the value of World Englishes (i.e., ways in which English is used differently in different areas around the world). 

We are a safe, welcoming space and encourage a diverse range of perspectives; however, we will not tolerate the language of hatred, bigotry, and denigration of others. We believe that learning and communicating thrive when we have empathy for one another, and as such, we aim to create an environment that focuses on listening and learning.