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About OPAL Education

General Update

After discussions and receiving extensive feedback, we are in the process of restructuring our OPAL Education program to focus more intentionally on leadership development, community building, peer to peer learning, and incorporating opportunities to explore Power, Privilege & Social Justice initiatives. More updates and information on OPAL opportunities will be provided in the upcoming terms for 2024

Mission

OPAL Education supports the larger mission of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership to "contribute to the creation of a socially just world". OPAL Education focuses on the growth and development of students in the program through leadership development, interactive learning spaces, and student-led workshops through:

  • Community: We know what it is like to feel different and alone. We gather in fellowship as a way to support and uplift one another.
  • Authenticity: We respect the inherent dignity in all people. With empathy and compassion, we strive to be honest, to be ourselves, and to create spaces for others.
  • Intersectionality: Systematic injustices and social inequality are the result of interrelated and interlocking forms of oppression. We act and work in ways that honor the multiple dimensions of each person's identity (dominant and marginalized) that intersect, influence one another, and compound to create unique experiences.
  • Personal Development: We believe that change is ongoing, lifelong work that begins within ourselves. We are committed to seeking out new experiences, perspectives, and knowledges.
  • Empowerment: We support individuals and communities in finding their power and becoming agents of social change.
  • Solidarity: We believe that forming coalitions and acting in solidarity with other groups makes us more powerful than when we act alone.

Purpose

OPAL Education is geared towards undergraduate student groups who are interested in interactive workshops with an educational and community-building component. The program focuses on peer to peer learning and facilitations that are executed by trained student facilitators for student groups across campus.