Committee on Equity, Inclusion, & Diversity (CEID)

three people standing on equal sized boxes to show equality and next to it three people with different size boxes to show equity
Interaction Institute for Social Change

The Big Bend Committee on Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity (CEID) is composed of representatives from stakeholder groups across the college.  The team exists to promote equity and inclusion through education, leadership, collaboration, and advocating social justice.  Within the areas they represent and  the college community, members of the Committee on Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity will fulfill the following roles:

Purpose/Objectives:

The CEID takes a lead role and serves as an advisory group to BBCC senior leadership to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice for the BBCC campus community. The CEID works collaboratively with BBCC leadership and stakeholders including, but not limited to, in the following capacities:

  • Serve as a resource for the BBCC community on matters relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion;
  • Encourage and support programs, pedagogy, and activities to develop a campus climate of diversity, equity, and inclusion;
  • Identify barriers and support the development of policies and practices to attract, recruit, retain, advance, and promote a diverse student body and college workforce;
  • Recommend strategies to encourage interaction among the college’s diverse populations;
  • Recommend how to enrich the educational experience to prepare members of BBCC to live and work in diverse workplaces and communities.
Statement on Equity, Inclusion, & Diversity (EID)

Big Bend Community College believes that every person’s background, which includes identifiers such as ethnicity, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and ability, helps enrich our campus community when an environment is conducive to the expression of that identity. We commit to providing a campus climate where equity, inclusion, and diversity thrives and leads to individuals pursuing their educational, personal, and professional goals.

These definitions reflect Big Bend’s understanding that in order to intentionally apply our commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity, we must challenge social, political, and cultural norms and policies that perpetuate inequality and exclusion or underrepresented groups.

  • Equity: full and fair access to resources, opportunities, and services.
  • Inclusion: the creation and maintenance of an accepting environment where all have equitable opportunities and support.
  • Diversity: individual, group, and social differences in cultures, exceptions, backgrounds, opinions, and values, all of which enrich our shared community.
Resources

Further Learning

Recommended Reading

  • Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

  • Labor-Based Grading Contracts: Building Equity and Inclusion in the Compassionate Writing Classroom by Asao B. Inoue

  • Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire 

  • Reaffirming Racism: The faulty logic of Colorblindness, Remedy and DiversitySeeing Race Again: Countering Colorblindness across the Disciplines by Kimberlé Crenshaw

  • Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks

  • Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum

  • Negotiating Opportunities: How the Middle Class Secures Advantages in School by Jessica McCrory Calarco

Professional Development Opportunities

Coming Soon!

Committee on Equity, Inclusion, & Diversity Members
  • Logo of Big Bend Thor

    Ramos Lopez, Alexis

    Program Assistant
  • Salah Abed

    Abed, Salah

    Math Associate Professor
    salaha@bigbend.edu
    (509) 793-2145
  • Jesse Andrews headshot

    Andrews, Jesse

    Workforce Education Program Specialist
    jessean@bigbend.edu
    509-793-2047
  • Tahlia Perez

    Perez, Tahlia

    Director of HR & Equity
    tahliap@bigbend.edu
  • Abinadi Milligan headshot

    Milligan, Abinadi

    BEdA Site Manager
    abinadim@bigbend.edu
    509-793-2334
  • Logo of Big Bend Thor

    Kitchens, Rhonda

    Librarian/Associate Professor
    rhondak@bigbend.edu
    509-793-2354
  • Logo of Big Bend Thor

    Olson, Zachary

    Developmental English Senior Associate Professor
    zacho@bigbend.edu
    (509) 793-2362
  • MariAnne Zavala-Lopez

    Zavala-Lopez, MariAnne

    Advisor Counselor
    MarianneZ@bigbend.edu
    (509) 793-2028
  • Communications Coordinator, Tiffany Fondren

    Fondren, Tiffany

    Communications Coordinator
    tiffanyf@bigbend.edu
    (509) 793-2048
  • Advising Resource Coordinator, Elijah Bozin

    Bozin, Elijah

    Data Consultant
    elijahb@bigbend.edu
  • Husebye, Melissa

    BAS/Workforce Education Program Specialist
    melissahu@bigbend.edu
    (509) 793-2120
  • Logo of Big Bend Thor

    Riley, Chris

    History/Political Science Professor
    chrisr@bigbend.edu
    (509) 793-2184
  • Logo of Big Bend Thor

    Gutierrez, Octaviano

    English Associate Professor
    octavianog@bigbend.edu
    (509) 793-2189
  • Gudino, Giselle

    WES Program Coordinator
    giselleg@bigbend.edu
    (509) 793-2309