The top Ivy League schools have historically marginalized Black and brown students. While students of color have been welcomed in recent years, they are still underrepresented.
However, the founders of Trillicon Valley and The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University (or d.school) are advocating for more inclusion to build the largest Black and Brown attended class in university history, according to an Instagram post.
This fall, d.school and Trillicon Valley — founded by Khristopher Sandifer, Brice Butler, DeVaris Brown, Jason Mayden, Brandon Middleton, and Olatunde Sobomehin — will offer a free 10-week course, “Community College: Designing Black and Brown Spaces,” where students will learn how to create communal, academic and corporate spaces for people of color.
According to a description, the course will be led by a four-person teaching team, which includes Middleton, along with Nari Gathers, Marvell Lahens, and Adrian O Walker. Students will be allowed to participate remotely “in a series of participatory lectures and active provocations by Black and Brown creative misfits, leaders, and voices in photography, design, music, activism, tech, education, and entrepreneurship.”
For no cost at all, students will gain new perspectives, resources, and tools to build access, equity, and space for marginalized groups in a multitude of spaces.
“No need to worry about the cost,” Mayden wrote on Instagram. “This one is on us.”
Twenty graduate students, undergraduate students, fellows, and postdocs will be accepted. Persons of all racial backgrounds can sign up but Black and brown students are highly encouraged to apply.
Applications for the course are now open and will close on Aug. 28, 2020. Community College begins on Sept. 16, 2020.
Editorial Note: This piece has been updated since it was initially published.
