Over the last two years, The Elephant in the Room series has worked to bring issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion to the forefront of life at IUP. We have had some great workshops and speakers, and we look forward to having many more.
COVID-19 has drastically changed what all of us anticipated our spring 2020 semester (and summer) would look like. Instead of being able to gather face-to-face, we are all finding ourselves existing in a space of isolation, where we are relying more than ever on forms of electronic communication. We miss people (even the introverts).
With that being said, our work does not stop because we are apart. If anything, our work is more important now than ever before. It is very easy for conversations of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to fall by the wayside while we are in the midst of a crisis, but we are committed to doing our part to keep that dialogue going.
Over the next few months, we will be regularly posting blog posts on a range of DEI issues that have been brought to light or exacerbated by COVID-19. These conversations may not be easy, but this work never is. We are passionate about seeing how The Elephant series can grow its DEI efforts and support the IUP community in the process.
But most of all, this is about you. What you think and what you feel. This is your community.
So, before we get down to business, how are you?
Please feel free to share how you are doing in the comments section below.
I’m doing as well as expected – I know that I am in a position of privilege – working from home, healthy, better off than many others. This experience has brought a lot of important issues to the forefront of our local community such as food insecurity, livable wages, and health care. It is my hope that we come out of COVID-19 a bit smarter, kinder, and more aware of what our neighbors and community members need.
I have admittedly found it hard to focus – I find myself following updates more than ever on Twitter, and I often get distracted checking for updates. I have several family members in the healthcare field, and I hear firsthand the accounts of not enough PPE and dangerous working conditions that make me anxious for their health and wellbeing. Despite that, I am healthy and privileged to have the resources I need to continue my work. I hope this process reminds all of us that doing things to support others – whether that is academically, professionally, or personally – does not have to be only in response to a pandemic. We can continue kindness in times of strength as well, and I hope we take that lesson forward.
I could not agree more! I have also tried to instill the need to document and chronicle this moment in our history. The health and economic impact of COVID-19 is comparable to what generations experienced during the 1918 influenza pandemic and the Great Depression of the 1920s-1930s. Write about your experiences on this blog, write a diary/journal, save correspondence, and social media posts. You could even create a scrapbook and share photos of Indiana and IUP, or working from home. But above all else, be safe, and stay at home – be well.
The Elephant in the Room is important to me – on so many different levels. And, maybe more right now than ever before as we are quite literally working in isolation.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my various reactions since we moved to a stay-at-home situation. The first one was relief when my spouse also got to work at home. To be honest, I just worried. And if I continue to be honest, that hasn’t been the only time I’ve worried. When I delivery driver just walked up to me with a big box, 1-foot way, and had me sign … I worried then, too. Too close for comfort! And certainly not a safe 6 feet.
But a bigger response has been one of gratitude. We both can work at home. And, we both have jobs. But on the personal level, it was the gift of being able to slow down a bit. I had been burning both ends of the candle at work. Good projects, so I’m not complaining. But, I was tired. I was also pushing myself to train for a marathon – yes, there I was over Winter Break in the ice and snow and not feeling happy about it. But Covid-19 has caused me to think about things and right now a marathon isn’t on my radar. A couple of my projects have come to their natural close. It feels good, but it has now put me back in charge of how and when I send my time and energies. Oddly, and perhaps ironically, in the big world of viruses and global pandemics, in a world in which I have very little actual control, I feel as if I’ve been given the opportunity to take control over my very small and personal life. I’ve slowed down, made sense of what I really value, and feel that once I go back out in the world I will go back with the intention of being kinder and gentler to both myself and others.
So, Elephants, once again you’ve given me the ‘space’ to think through some very important issues.
The greatest challenge I have faced during this time of disruption is the emotional labor I have been expending. Many of my students are struggling. There has been a great deal more contact (Zoom calls, messaging, and even phone calls) which take significant time. This additional time is added to the existing responsibilities of time in managing online course instruction and professional responsibilities. I have not yet found a balance and I don’t expect to–this is not a normal time. With these challenges I have also found opportunities to embrace new technologies and opportunities to engage in deeper dialogue on systemic inequities that COVID-19 brings to light (such as disproportionate access to technology, healthcare, food and housing security).
I am struck by my own privilege during this time and the precariousness of others’ lives, particularly those who have fewer resources. When I think about how fortunate I am that I (and my spouse) can work from home, I’m grateful. When I think about others who don’t have that option, I worry. The decision between shutting things down to address health and opening things up to address the economy creates a tension in my mind because it is easy for me to say “keep things closed” since I am still earning a paycheck and have some security. I have a sibling who is laid off, another who delivers food as a supplemental job that is now a primary job for him. So there are many thoughts and feelings swirling around in my head these days about economic inequities in particular. Add to that all that our students are dealing with, whether they are economically privileged or disadvantaged. I worry about that and their well-being, both physical and psychological. There are times when I want to just ignore everything that’s going on (turn off the news, social media, etc.). But that also is a privilege that I have. I think all of this will sit with me for a long time, and that’s probably not a bad thing despite it being difficult.
BRJ-I’m frustrated, inspired, reflective, appreciative, and mostly healthy. I have really checked in on the pace of work that I both propose for myself each day, and feel obligated to. This has led to some frustration with a widespread trope about our an imposed, shared COVID-19 vacation of sorts. Idle time…I don’t seem to have any of that. Yet, I do find myself having (or taking) a little more personal reflective space and time to consider the broader philosophical and spiritual ramifications of going through a world-wide initiation. This is a period of sacrifice. It hits the least among us so terribly much worse than the privileged. How will I respond to my good fortune? I’m so very fortunate to have a relatively solid job, and a career that is a calling. How it will manifest itself in my art and craft remains to be seen. I’m having trouble being patient…but patient I’ll be.
I’m thrilled to have a salary coming in. I miss being with my students. I find it near impossible to get students to interact via Zoom. Some have confessed to me that they do not feel comfortable making themselves heard online out of fear of not knowing how other students will react to what they say. Others have returned to homes where online learning is problematic – to say the least.
As for me, I must confess that I am having a terrible time with doing everything online. A degenerative disease has made using a mouse and typing excruciating painful. Sure, I can use dictation to leave messages like this one, but dictation is not good for much anything else. I had always declined to teach online since the disease unexpectedly started getting the better of me. I am a bit bitter because I was once a pioneer with computer-mediated communication decades ago.
I survive by telling myself that the end is near and that I can hold on. Fortunately, I live alone so I can’t make others miserable because I suffer. (A problem many of us with chronic pain whisper to ourselves when we want to be perfectly honest.) Fortunately, I can still visit with my therapist online. At least I can hold on to that! May the end of the semester come soon!
Today has me on the struggle bus. I have no “reason” for it, but there you go! And zoom gatherings make it worse. Everyone has their zoom faces on and who knows what they are really thinking. Or, their videos are muted all together. Mics on mute. Internal questions abound: Do I make sense? Do they hate everything I say? There is no community, no give and take of ideas. Here’s hoping that tomorrow brings a better set of zoom experiences.
From a students perspective, the workload has seemed to have gotten more significant. Instead of having our in class work and our homework, we have all of it to do at home. This can be a bit overwhelming, but still manageable. It’s definitely a learning curve, but I feel like it’s been handled very well.
At the advice of my English professor, I’m planning on starting a journal for my 3 year old son so that someday he can read how he was once part of a pandemic.
It’s been a rough adjustment with everything going on. I have been doing my best to hold onto the silver linings, but some days those seem more distance. The amount of ignorance and hatred going around in this time of crisis is only making it worse. I’ve started completely avoiding the news and staying away from social media because I can’t cope with the constant negativity from those around me.
Following up on EH’s comment about the news – I’d like to add Social Media. It’s just WOW – did I really just read that?! It has made me think hard about relationships and friendships, particularly when it comes from people I had thought of as “friends.” It’s just been WOW.
And then there are the surprises — a different kind of WOW. I hang on to those, hard.
I think the Covid-19 situation has brought out the best and the worse in some of us. Like I said, I’m trying hard to hang on to those good wows.