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K-State Today

January 19, 2021

Safe Zone rolls into 2021 with new workshops

Submitted by Debra J. Bolton

Kansas State University's Safe Zone team invites you to register for spring workshops with additional topics added. We offer one introductory workshop and two or three advanced workshops per month.

Based on evaluation feedback, a Faculty and Staff Workshop, the Safe Zone team added new topics to the educational line up of advanced workshops.

For this semester, the topics for Safe Zone workshops include Body Positivity and Mindfulness; Professional and Personal Self-Care; Trauma-Informed Practices; The Language of Masculinity; The Language of Gender Identity; Unpacking Workplace Harassment: Shifting Perspectives; Culture Deconstructed; The History of Exclusionary Acts, Laws, and Policies; The Language of Gender Identity, and Language that Further Separates.

We encourage participants to participate in an introductory workshop initially. Introductory workshops include presentations from Safe Zone partner offices including the CARE Office, Office of Student Life, LGBT Resource Center, Intercultural Learning and Development, and Counseling Services with a focus on faculty and staff rights and responsibilities. Attendees should gain knowledge of campus resources and communities with the development of skills to assist students and colleagues.

Our first Safe Zone introductory workshop of the semester begins at 10 a.m. on Jan. 22. Please register online for the 1.5-hour workshop

On Feb. 19, from 10-11:30 a.m., we begin our first advanced workshop for 2021, "Self-Care: A Necessity of Personal and Professional Success." Please register online for this advanced workshop

On Feb. 26, from 10-11:30 a.m., we will present the advanced workshop called "The Language of Hyper-Masculinity." Please register online for this workshop

If you have an interest in leading a Safe Zone workshop focused on your area of expertise, as it related to campus climate, environments of belonging, equity, racial healing, safety around gender identity, and other topics around safety and belonging, please reach out to Safe Zone team.

Safe Zone exists to provide open and affirming spaces throughout the K-State campus where individuals affected by marginalization, discrimination, violence, aggression, and other forms of exclusion can go for support and assistance. Kansas State University faculty, staff, students and community members can become Safe Zone allies as a way to show publicly their commitment to understanding human difference, and promoting equity across campus and community.

Safe Zone continues to be part of Kansas State University's efforts to create an open and affirming campus since the 1970s. Safe Zone was created to help those facing sexual orientation discrimination. Revitalization of the initiative in 2002 created a more comprehensive and ever-evolving Safe Zone effort to fit the needs of current K-State community members. Allies become educated to help those coming from a variety of backgrounds and identities with needs concerning exclusionary acts like intimidation, micro and macro aggressions, discrimination, LGBTQ-related concerns or sexual violence.

For more information, Debra Bolton, director of intercultural learning and academic success, at dbolton@k-state.edu; or Brandon Haddock, student services coordinator, Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs and LGBT Resource Center, at bhaddock@k-state.edu