What can an Appalachian Advocate do for you?
Appalachian Advocates are faculty and staff who are willing to serve as mentors, informally or formally, to students from underrepresented groups. They are here to help students navigate the university system and identify opportunities and support. They are also taking action to educate themselves and others on issues related to diversity and inclusion. Advocate faculty intentionally include diverse voices and perspectives in their course design. Advocates are committed to fostering an educational environment that values diversity and intentionally includes people and perspectives from diverse cultures, worldviews, backgrounds, traditions and ways of life.
Where can you find an Advocate?
Appalachian Advocates are encouraged to show their membership by displaying the Appalachian Advocates emblem on their office doors, in their email signatures and on their personal webpages. Feel free to reach out to any Appalachian Advocates member with questions or concerns, requests for mentorship, and other needs you might have. An Advocate will work with you to help you find what you’re looking for.
If you’d like to participate in diversity and inclusion events on campus, the Appalachian Advocates initiative maintains a list of campus diversity and inclusion events for students, faculty and staff. If you know of an event that should be included, let us know at appadvocates@appstate.edu.
“Appalachian Advocates is a cohort of faculty and staff that has made a commitment to listen, learn, support, and advocate for members of our community from underrepresented identities.”
Jamie Parson, Chief Diversity Officer
Purpose
The Appalachian Advocates program was created to equip, expand and make visible the network of support available to members of underrepresented groups within our App State Community and the Greater Boone community. Membership is open to all faculty and staff to advocate for and support underrepresented students. Appalachian Advocates began as an initiative of the Walker College of Business in 2020 and expanded to a campuswide initiative in 2022.
Vision Statement
Appalachian Advocates aspire to provide a welcoming and empowering home for every student, faculty and staff member. Advocates value diverse perspectives, acknowledge societal injustices toward marginalized groups, recognize and overcome our own biases and use our talents and skills to create a more inclusive and just society. Overall, we bring together allies of diverse groups here on campus in a visible way to serve, support, advocate and learn from each other.
Diversity and Inclusion Events
The following links are good places to start in searching for opportunities for diversity- and inclusion-focused training, service and events on campus.
- App State Diversity and Inclusion Events
- App Unidos Meetings and Events
- Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning for Student Success
- Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies Events
- Community-Engaged Leadership Events (service opportunities)
- Engage
- Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies Events
- Henderson Springs LGBT Center Events
- Intercultural Student Affairs Events
- Walker College of Business Diversity and Inclusion Calendar
- Walker College of Business Shared Reading Initiative
- Workshops
Questions?
Contact appadvocates@appstate.edu.