Congratulations to The Real Lit[erature] Team for winning the UW Tacoma Staff Association Team of the Year Award!

And many, many thanks to the UW Tacoma Staff Association for recognizing this Team. We are honored, humbled, and delighted.

Created by a collaboration between the UWT Library and the Center for Equity and Inclusion, RealLit was designed as a book club which provides an inclusive and welcoming space where students, staff, and faculty can discuss the intersection of written narratives and social justice issues without the pressure of a grade.

The Team of the Year Award recognizes one group on campus for their outstanding contributions to UW Tacoma. The team awarded this honor will receive a $1,000 professional development scholarship to use on expenses related to advancing the mission and performance of the team. The Library’s Textbook Pilot Program Team is a past winner.

Below we share some quotes from the nomination for Real Lit:

Since its inception in the Fall of 2018, students participating in the RealLit[iterature] (or RealLit) Book Club have participated in discussions of titles exploring race, culture, gender, mental illness, and other topics important to our community.  … Students share their personal insights to the narrative, relating it to their lived experience if they wish. They practice deep, empathic listening and thoughtful participation in group conversations, reflecting a program mission that was intentionally aligned with campus initiatives.

Interested in joining us in the Fall 2020 Quarter? Register here!

Discussing Challenging Topics

CEI’s Program Support Supervisor Nedralani Mailo, in collaboration with librarians Alaina C. Bull and Johanna Jacobsen Kiciman, have collaborated for two years on a project they describe as one of their favorite parts of working at UW Tacoma. Over 60 students and staff and faculty have participated in the book club.

Participants have an opportunity to explore challenging topics, because the facilitators actively emphasize respect and sensitivity.  Discussions don’t truly begin until there is a common understanding of community agreements.  In addition, the team leaders model inclusive outreach by inviting campus partners who can bring meaningful perspectives and nuanced support for the participants.  As one example, when discussing Darius the Great is Not Okay, a work touching on themes of depression and mental illness, they partnered with the Student Counseling Center to have a mental health professional present for discussions.  However, the team’s partnerships don’t stop at the campus boundaries.

Building Community

Real Lit also regularly brings in nationally known authors to speak to the broader community: Tomy Orange, Elizabeth Acevedo, Angie Thomas, and Dashka Slater, to name a few. Embedding their work in the community (“increase community members’ recognition of UW Tacoma as a valued thought leader and convener that addresses the problems of our time and place”), Real Lit partnered with the Mayor of Tacoma and the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences on a Tacoma Reads youth event to read and discuss There There by Tommy Orange.  Approximately 90 students from the Tacoma Public School District and the Chief Leschi schools attended, providing a unique opportunity for these students to engage directly with an award winning author.

Later, learning with each quarterly iteration of the book club, the team continued to expand its reach in Winter 2020. By partnering with Lincoln and Mt. Tahoma high school librarians, a group of close to 70 students, faculty and staff were able to participate in a virtual discussion with Elizabeth Acevedo, the author of The Poet X.  The visiting high school students were welcomed to campus with a tour and had an opportunity to interact with and observe a celebrated author known for portraying Latinx culture. These events create opportunities not only for our students, but also invite members of our communities to engage in discussions highlighting diverse life experiences.

Looking Ahead

During COVID-19, the Team pivoted to online meetings.  A student participant noted: “Real Lit during COVID meant so much to me because I appreciate the community and safe space it gave me to have meaningful discussions even beyond the context of the book we read.” Indeed, after pivoting to an all-online version of the club, its participants advocated to continue meeting in the summer, a quarter that ReaLit usually does not meet.

In the Fall, Real Lit will be reading Slay, by Brittney Morris. Students, Faculty, and Staff can sign up by registering here. Books are given out as e-books on a first come, first serve basis, prioritizing free copies for students.