Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
OUR COMMITMENT
The staff of Trinity College Rome Campus (TCRC) works in collaboration with the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) office in Hartford, CT to offer a welcoming, safe environment to our students here in Rome. Our work on DEI is integrated in our general commitment to supporting students, which is central to our work as well as creating spaces for their experiences and connecting them to local communities. This goal is not new to the TCRC faculty and staff’s commitment to student’s wellbeing, but over the years the strategies we have designed and put in place to promote inclusiveness have changed and expanded in an effort to bridge divides and offer effective support to all members of our community who come from a variety of backgrounds.
Rome is mostly famous for its history, museums, archeological sites, but it is also a very modern, dynamic, multicultural city; through the years faculty and staff have constantly worked to include these aspects of the city to life on campus, and to offer a welcoming environment to our students. With this distinctive approach in mind, we focus our commitment on precise plans to make sure our students can experience as many sides of this great city as possible, while also reflecting on and listening to a wider range of voices and identities. Our commitment to ensure supportive and positive experiences for all is designed to have a stronger impact on our student’s life in Rome.
We want to make sure to offer the same resources our students can rely on at home, on their campuses, creating spaces and tools here in Rome to keep focusing on experiences and conversations about social justice, privilege, identity while also offering the opportunity to connect and learn more about Italian culture through discussions about these same topics here. We are working to effectively integrate conversation on diversity and inclusion to all aspects of our program, from extracurricular activities, to academics, to immersive experiences. Student involvement in our initiatives is crucial because their voices, experiences and impact is key to this process.
WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING & OUR FUTURE PLANS TO ENACT CHANGE IN & AROUND OUR COMMUNITY:
- We have been working more closely with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Trinity, to learn and discuss about campus climate, but also to create deeper connections with the extended community in Hartford;
- We have attended workshops and seminars on DEI with staff, faculty and students of Trinity Hartford;
- We have attended group practice following training sessions on Intergroup Dialogue;
- We are regularly promoting group readings and discussions on social justice for all staff in Rome in collaboration with Office of Study Away staff in Hartford;
- We will be offering office hours to discuss and promote conversations on DEI on our campus;
- We will actively involve students in the organization and promotion of DEI initiatives;
- We will organize Community Conversation Events on and off campus to promote and support intergroup dialogue and conversations on DEI in Italy and in the United States.
- We will provide students with resources and updates on activities and initiatives happening in Rome via our Compass page each semester.
ANGELA LAVECCHIA – DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION COORDINATOR
Angela Lavecchia holds a BA in Foreign Languages and a MA in Comparative Literature from Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”. Her main research interests include the influence of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States on the works of Amiri Baraka and representation of female characters in the novels of William Faulkner. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Teaching and Promotion of Italian Language and Culture to foreign students at University Ca’ Foscari, with a research on the role of graphic novels by second generation authors on intercultural communication in Italy. During her last year as a student in Napoli, she spent a semester abroad in Dublin, Ireland for an internship sponsored by the Erasmus Placement Exchange Program.
She has worked for two years as Italian Teaching Fellow at Bowdoin College, Maine and she has taught Italian and English as second language to immigrants and refugees in Torino for one year. She has worked for one year with CIEE Ferrara as Italian Language Instructor and Assistant to the Program Coordinator for the college students programs and has also been involved with the High School Summer Abroad programs as Program leader and Italian Language Instructor. Angela is fluent in English and has also studied French, German and Arabic.
DEI STAFF TRAINING ACTIVITIES AND INITIATIVES 2019 – 2021
- July 2019 – Assignment of the role of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator to Angela Lavecchia (also Immersion and Engagement Learning Coordinator in Rome).
- January 2020 – Trinity College Rome Campus co-sponsored Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 2020 Seminar – The Study Abroad student perspective at Temple University Rome. A seminar open to staff and faculty of American programs in Rome. TCRC staff and faculty.
- June 2020 – Queering Identities: LGBTQ+ Sexuality and Gender Identity offered by University of Colorado on Coursera. Angela Lavecchia.
- September 2020 – Exploring the Historical Roots of Racial Inequality: Towards an Antiracist community, offered by Trinity College through Facing History and Ourselves. Angela Lavecchia and Stephen Marth.
- October 2020; February 2021 – Training workshop for Intergroup Dialogue Facilitators, offered by Trinity College, led by colleagues at Connecticut College. Angela Lavecchia and Stephen Marth.
- October – November 2020 – Group readings with TCRC staff of How to be an Antiracist by Ibram Kendi. TCRC staff.
- Intergroup Dialogue Practice (2 sessions), Trinity College, November 2020. Angela Lavecchia
- November 30 – December 15, 2020. Open Forum sulle Disuguaglianze e le Diversità, offered by Forum Disuguaglianze Diversità. Angela Lavecchia.
- January 2021 – DiversityEdu training, Trinity College – Angela Lavecchia and Stephen Marth.
- January 2021 – Equity Certificate Program. Trinity College. Angela Lavecchia, Stephen Marth and Francesco Lombardi.
- January 2021 – Group discussion with TCRC staff and OSA staff of How to be an Antiracist by Ibram Kendi. TCRC Staff and OSA staff.
- January 2021 – Training workshop Supporting Diverse Students on Study Abroad: Amplifying the Role of Professionals offered by The Forum of Education Abroad. Angela Lavecchia.
- March 2021 – Group Reading of So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo with members of Trinity College students, faculty and staff. Angela Lavecchia and Stephen Marth.
- March 2021 – Intergroup Dialogue Practice sessions. Angela Lavecchia and Stephen Marth.
- April 2021 – July 2021 Group readings and discussions on multiculturalism in Italy, gender inequalities, immigration and discrimination in Europe, diversity in the workplace. TCRC STAFF.
Contact the Rome Adviser
Hartford, CT 06106
