ETSU Office of Equity and Inclusion presents Community Voices

Community Voices is available to read online

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – East Tennessee State University’s Office of Equity and Inclusion has released its inaugural issue of Community Voices, a digital magazine whose purpose is to serve as a platform for cultural change by opening up dialogue centered around various issues experienced by those in the region and beyond. 

“This publication was birthed out of the need to expand the boundaries of equity and inclusion,” said Dr. Keith Johnson, vice president for Equity and Inclusion. “It opens dialogue beyond the walls of ETSU by including stories from individuals who represent not only the university, but the greater Appalachian region as well.”

A result of interdepartmental collaboration amongst faculty and staff at ETSU, the first issue of the magazine covers various topics, and subject matters range from discussions centering race and gender to solutions made for the structural complications that arose over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The goal is to generate responsible, functional and enduring cultural change that pushes back against the marginalization of any group of people,” said Elizabeth Cloyd, managing editor of Community Voices. “We realize accomplishing cultural and societal change requires long-term thinking and the ability to sit through substantial discomfort during hard conversations about race, gender, sexuality and many more important issues.”

The publication is available to read for free on the Office of Equity and Inclusion webpage at www.etsu.edu/equity. Individuals in the region interested in contributing their voices to the publication are encouraged to do so by contacting Cloyd at cloyde@etsu.edu.

For further information about Community Voices, contact the Office of Equity and Inclusion at (423) 439-4445.