USC Gould's Student Support office leads a conversation on diversity and wellness
By Anne Bergman
The USC Gould School of Law’s Student Support Office led a round-table discussion for USC faculty, students and staff about the benefits and challenges of the school’s First-Generation Professionals Program, one of the very first administratively run support programs among law schools nationwide. The interactive talk – held as part of the
university’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Week – also addressed efforts to frame diversity as a dimension of wellness.
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| Left to right: Kyle Jones, who is Gould's associate dean, dean of students and director of diversity, equity and inclusion; Dr. Malissa Barnwell-Scott, who is Gould’s director of Student Support Services and the First-Generation Professionals Program; Yasmine McMorrin, associate director of Student Support at Gould; Darin Gray, director of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s STEM Educational Outreach Programs and Professor LaVonna B. Lewis, director of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives at the USC Price School of Public Policy. |
Dr. Malissa Barnwell-Scott, who is Gould’s director of Student Support Services and the First-Generation Professionals Program, and Yasmine McMorrin, associate director of Student Support, guided the discussion. Professor LaVonna B. Lewis, director of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives at the USC Price School of Public Policy, and Darin Gray, director of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s STEM Educational Outreach Programs, also joined the panel.
The conversation ranged from admissions outreach programs to increasing diversity among students, as well as issues related to increasing inclusiveness both in the workplace and in our American culture.
Promoting Success through Belonging
During her presentation, Barnwell-Scott focused on Gould’s innovative First-Generation Professionals Program, which Dean Andrew T. Guzman launched upon joining the school in 2015.
Barnwell-Scott has been involved since its inception. The program provides an array of support services for first-generation law students, who have the opportunity to self-identify as first-gen during Gould’s admissions process. Monthly workshops cover topics such as developing a growth mindset to mastering professional etiquette — all designed, Barnwell-Scott said, to engender a “healthy sense of entitlement.”
She noted that many first-gen students, as well as students from diverse backgrounds, can feel anxious about whether or not they deserve to be in law school. “We want our students to know that they belong here,” said Barnwell-Scott.
Helping Voices Be Heard
“Our experiences before we entered this space may not be the same, but they all matter,” said Lewis, whose areas of research focus on cultural competency and the health status and health care needs of underrepresented groups. “It’s everyone’s job on this campus to make students’ lives better.”
Gould’s McMorrin reviewed how the Student Support Office developed a faith-based conversation at the law school to create a space to discuss the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, so students could express their emotions and develop solutions for moving forward.
Gray discussed how the Viterbi community is focused on alleviating student anxiety by “doing more to make human connections, being concerned for one another. We check in when someone looks like they are in distress,” he said. “That’s what it means to be part of the Trojan Family.”
According to Barnwell-Scott, too often research about diversity and inclusion in a professional or academic setting only considers the effects on members of minority groups. “It is true that ethnic minorities have better outcomes in a racially diverse and inclusive workplace,” she said.
“Research also supports that being inclusive, welcoming and open at work personally benefits all people.”
Examples of inclusive work practices include adjusting one’s communications style to work with people from diverse cultures, building relationships with people from a very different background to one’s own, and being prepared to challenge stereotyping and prejudicial behavior in others.
In conclusion, Barnwell-Scott cited psychologist Vanessa King, who said: “There is good reason to think that an inclusive, open attitude to other people should be related to wellbeing -- feeling connected to other people is at the heart of happiness.”
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