On Friday, September 5, 2025, DKU faculty, staff, and students gathered for the first reading group session focused on “Embracing Diversity: Developing Cultural Competence for Inclusive Education.” This year marks the third anniversary of the event, and we were excited to welcome both returning participants and first-year students to kick off the series.
Unlike past sessions, we opened this gathering with self-introductions that went beyond basic pleasantries—attendees shared personal experiences, their identities, and their reasons for engaging with LGBTQ+-related topics. We deeply appreciated the vulnerability our participants brought. Many opened up about their roles as LGBTQ+ allies, their membership in minoritized communities, or their experiences of challenging societal norms. Their stories were powerful and varied. We heard about the challenges of navigating LGBTQ+ identities in both China and international contexts, the struggle to find a sense of belonging within on-campus LGBTQ+ community, and more. These firsthand accounts directly resonated with our shared reading for the day, Evans et al.’s (2017) study, “Safe but Not Safe: LGBTTIQA+ Students’ Experiences of a University Campus”. Conducted at another university, this research identified three core challenges faced by LGBTQ+ students—discrimination, isolation, and avoidance. We emphasized to attendees that while learning from external research is valuable, it is equally critical to center and understand the unique concerns of DKU’s own student body.
Our reading group provides exactly this kind of space: attendees feel safe to share and connect with one another, it creates opportunities for faculty-staff collaboration, and it amplifies more student voices. While we did not have the opportunity to share the revised Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion campus climate survey, designed using feedback from last year’s attendees, we plan to include this activity in our next session. The goal of the survey is to gather targeted input from reading group participants first; this will help us refine it further before distributing it to all DKU students. Ultimately, this work will enable us to provide more tailored support to students in need.
Overall, the session fostered a supportive and reflective atmosphere, one that encouraged open dialogue and collective learning. Participants expressed genuine appreciation for the chance to engage deeply with diversity and inclusion issues, and many voiced enthusiasm for continuing this conversation in future meetings. As we move forward, the reading group remains committed to more than just raising awareness: we aim to take concrete steps toward building an inclusive campus culture where every member feels valued and empowered. We look forward to building on this momentum in upcoming sessions and initiatives.
The event was organized by Zhenjie Weng, Assistant Professor of English Language Education, and Yanan Zhao, Senior Lecturer of English for Academic Purposes, from the Language and Culture Center. The event was sponsored by the Humanities Research Center, covering the fees for event promotion and refreshments for attendees.
