Mission Statement
Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion & Belonging (i3b) co-creates opportunities for students of all social identities to learn in spaces where they are seen, heard, and valued for their full selves. Grounded in radical love and belonging, we equip our campus community with the awareness, knowledge, and skills to take action against intersectional forms of systemic oppression to cultivate belonging for others at and beyond UMBC.
Vision
Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion & Belonging (i3b) contributes to a socially just, anti-oppressive, anti-racist, pluralistic world while cultivating belonging for historically marginalized communities. Because of our work and experiences with our three-identity-based spaces, students, faculty, and staff feel affirmed and celebrated in their multiple, diverse, and intersecting identities and feel empowered and equipped to work toward co-creating systemic, group, and individual change rooted in radical love and belonging.
Values & Commitments
Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion & Belonging (i3b) centers our work on the following values and commitments: 1) radical love and belonging, 2) social justice education and development, and 3) equity and advocacy. By staying grounded in these values and commitments, we empower and enable others to be socially and culturally conscious, radically compassionate and loving, knowledgeable, and skilled community members.
Radical Love & Belonging
By grounding our work in Radical love and belonging, we create spaces of opportunity, possibility, safety, inclusion, and belonging for the UMBC community, especially historically marginalized populations. Further, we contribute to students, faculty, and staff knowledge, awareness, and skill development to empower them to center radical love and belonging in their experiences on campus and beyond.
Connected key concepts: Radical Love. Radical compassion. Radical self-care. Community care. People first. Whole self. Inherent dignity and worth. Sense of belonging. Feeling seen, valued, and heard. Wonder. Shared responsibility for belonging and inclusion.
Social Justice Education & Development
We center social justice in how we approach our work and the content we offer to help cultivate the development of a social justice orientation in others. We don’t only focus on learning about past trauma or amplifying identity-based needs and barriers; we also take a strengths-based and culturally sustaining approach grounded in community cultural wealth, joy, and radically possible futures.
Connected key concepts: Head & Heart Connected. Anti-supremacist. Decolonized. Lived Experiences and Cultural Storytelling. Engaged and Ongoing Practice. Facilitators and Educators. Theory-to-Practice. Self-work. Self-awareness. Intersectional. Pluralistic. Cultural Humility.
Equity and Advocacy
We recognize through our work the inherent worth of all people of all backgrounds and identities. That work involves disrupting and repairing harm to individuals and communities that stem from systemic forms of power, privilege, and discrimination. Our equity and advocacy approaches inform how we talk about students, work alongside students, and co-create more socially just futures.
Connected key concepts: Speak truth to power. Bravery. Courage. Think and act collectively. Be accountable to principles and people. Honor and build power on the margins. Transparency. Critical self-reflection. Take risks and learn from mistakes. Seek connection. Choose love over fear. Change is possible. Activism and Advocacy are rooted in love. Co-creation. “With and along-side” as opposed to “for”. Strategic. Power-sharing. Sustainable. Radical truth-telling. Calling in. Restorative. Coalition. Collaborative.