Dear Colleague,

In keeping with the times, BCCIE’s Summer Conference 2021 will convene online in June. Now practiced in the dark arts of online delivery, our team is assembling a timely and thought-provoking event.

The conference will address recovery, to be sure, but its primary focus will be on Addressing Privilege, which is central to conversations about equity, diversity and inclusion, a subject that pre-dates the pandemic and will surely outlast it, and one that permeates society and education.

There is much talk of privilege, advantage coded by race, religion, gender, socioeconomic status, age, by who you love, by measures where some enjoy power, access or resources that, knowingly or unknowingly, others are denied.

We talk about experiential learning. By extension it is true that a lived experience can never be fully understood if it hasn’t been lived. But learning and change are possible.

For those of us enjoying privilege, knowingly or not, it is not enough to just listen, nod agreement about injustice, wear the T-shirt, watch inequities unfold like they’re in a movie and then change the channel. It is rather about ownership and responsibility, putting in the work, introspection and observation, about recognizing, strategizing and acting upon the systemic barriers prevalent in society and at our institutions. As educators, we play a crucial role in this algebra.

And as international educators, let us cut to the chase: if the international education we provide demands airplanes and passports, we can assume some level of privilege.

Let us not waste this pandemic. There will not soon be a better time to acknowledge the privilege we enjoy and find solutions for betterment.

We look forward to seeing you online, June 21-25, for BCCIE Summer Conference 2021.

Sincerely,

Randall Martin
Executive Director, BCCIE