Communications and Community Engagement

Communications and Community Engagement (CCE) builds collaborative relationships with diverse, cross-campus units and provides opportunities for partners to work towards creating a just and inclusive campus and society. 

Communications

Gallaudet is a highly diverse community; sometimes communicating in a culturally appropriate way can be challenging. CCE can consult on ways to engage with diverse audiences, through written English, graphic design, video and so on. Understanding your audience will go a long way toward knowing how to write in a more inclusive way, minimizing harm caused by inappropriate language.

CCE also manages all of DEDI’s communications, including our community-wide letters, website, social media accounts, our MyGU page and our marketing materials. We manage all of the writing, editing, photography and video that we do.  Our communications goals are:

1. To communicate internally and externally about DEDI’s work: Events, programs and other information. 
2. To develop written and ASL educational materials, both internally and externally.
3. To share diversity, equity and inclusion resources for stakeholders, internally and externally.
4. To consult on culturally relevant communications strategies.

Community Engagement

DEDI defines community engagement as the effort to bring together a widely diverse group of people to build collaborative efforts in achieving the University’s goal of equity and belonging for all communities. What would community engagement look like here at Gallaudet? 

• We consider all possible perspectives. Everyone has a story. When we better understand our communities, we can collaborate to address their well-being.
• We are intentional in our interactions and build on our collective understanding. 
• We keep each other accountable through reflection and continuous learning.
• We build long-term, sustainable relationships that allow for collaborative efforts to create meaningful solutions to complex problems.
• We mobilize resources and influence systems.
• We become a catalyst for transformative work.

These become the goals of community engagement.  One additional goal within CCE would be to participate in national, local and community outreach activities that advance the cause of social justice.

Examples for this work:  

• Inclusive Excellence Ambassadors and Inclusive Excellence Student Ambassador programs are designed to spread the workload.  Trained ambassadors are going to be doing the work of influencing change. They will facilitate difficult conversations, promote healing, and invite different perspectives, which lead to collective decision-making.
• Bringing together communities to make sound decisions – One example is our efforts to bring the Indigenous community together to rename Building 103, and to organize a healing ceremony for the Indigenous community.