Diversity & Equity Statement

Diversity and Equity Statement

The BSC recognizes that its members are shaped by diverse identities and contexts that are affected by a variety of systems of power. These systems are organized by respectively hierarchized categories such as race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, age, ability, sexuality, legal status, nationality, among others. The BSC seeks to challenge and transform these systems by creating affordable, accessible, and anti-oppressive living spaces where our members can feel safer, grow personally and collectively, and thrive in academic and extracurricular engagements. It is only by establishing a commitment to equity and diversity through anti-oppression practices that the BSC can better recruit and retain members, being led by and for marginalized people.

The BSC seeks to honor the diversity of backgrounds and experiences that students from low-income communities bring into the co-ops. This requires fostering spaces where transformational learning and unlearning is encouraged in order to engage in respectful cross-cultural communication and exchange. It is important that all incoming and continuing members as well as staff acknowledge the co-ops as transformative learning spaces where diversity is seen through a critical lens affected by historical and structural power relations.