SCAD LIT champions inclusive thinking
Written by Sanika Palsikar, Image courtesy of SCAD LIT
SCAD LIT originated from the need to have an inclusive space for women, and presently advocates for conversations about celebrating differences and navigating diversity on campus. Previously called SCAD Ladies in Tech, the club broadened its scope to become Leaders of Inclusive Thinking. “LIT aims to help students understand and navigate different perspectives and raise awareness of individual differences in experiences as creatives,” said SCAD LIT co-founder and president Cherie Chung, a third-year user experience design student.
The club revolves around allied individuals striving to improve spaces to be more diverse and inclusive in every aspect. “The idea first came from [my co-founder] Sarah [Doncals, B.F.A. user experience design, 2020] after her internship with Uber, where she was involved in diversity and inclusion events within the company,” said Chung. Professor SuAnne Fu helped them realize the necessity to extend their discussion across campus and include a more diverse array of students.
For both founders, it was always their mission to bring inclusivity to the foreground. They did not want the name to limit the conversation about diversity in any way. “In the fall quarter, we made it a part of our agenda to plan for a name change to include more people in the conversation,” said Chung.
Relaunching LIT became their focus when planned events and in-person activities had to be canceled due to COVID-19 regulations. “We also wanted to be more inclusive in terms of industries and when we found a better representation, we made the switch,” said Chung.
Although the name might have gone through a transition, their original agenda remains unchanged. They wish to create a space that is proactive in solving real-life problems related to diversity. The club hopes to create awareness and help current and graduating students navigate their spaces better as unique individuals.
“Every spring-summer season, we set out to find new officers to bring new perspectives to the club,” said Chung, “Each officer comes up with a program and takes up full control over how the program is run.” Administrative officers, such as Chung, usually look after mentoring members and documenting processes for future allies.
LITalks is the first of three programs the club continuously runs. These are biweekly panels where industry professionals are invited to talk about a topic or share their experiences about navigating conversations or being better allies.
The next program, Lit’s Discuss, occurs every two to three weeks and includes informal internal meetings. The members discuss personal experiences and hear different perspectives on how to be more inclusive as students of today and leaders of design in the future.
SCAD LIT’s final program, Mentorship, launched in the winter 2021 quarter and is working to connect members with both professors and industry professionals to help students smoothly transition from college to a career.
For more information, SCAD LIT is on Instagram, and their events are also promoted through their subscription newsletter. Those interested in joining SCAD LIT can keep an eye out for posts for new officer elections 2021 on Instagram, all majors are welcome to apply.
