University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

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Guidelines for Co-Sponsored Events

Event Publicity

We ask that recipients of OVCDEI support list the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion as a co-sponsor for the event, program, or initiative in all publicity materials. When creating posts on social media, you may also tag us on Twitter: @OVCDEI_Illinois.

As part of our co-sponsorship, OVCDEI would be glad to help to share your publicity materials. We would also be glad to provide guidance about ways that you might reach a diverse campus audience. Unfortunately, we are unable to assist with the creation of publicity materials for co-sponsored events at this time.

Please email Elizabeth Tsukahara, Assistant Director for Communications, at etsukaha@illinois.edu to share your publicity materials or with questions.

Accessibility

All co-sponsored event should follow the best practices for accessible university-sponsored events prepared by the Chancellor’s Committee for Access and Accommodations, including the use of microphones and amplified sound, and video captioning.

All University of Illinois events posted on the university events calendars, event brochures, registration forms, invitations, and flyers must include the following statement: “To request disability-related accommodations for this event, please contact (name of person) at (phone/email/address). Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs”

Additional best practices can be found one the on the CCAA website: Guidelines for Accessible University-Sponsored Events. For additional guidance about providing reasonable accommodations for event participants, please contact the ADA Division of the Office for Access & Equity at accessandequity@illinois.edu.

Land Acknowledgement Statement

To acknowledge the Native peoples of the lands that comprise the state of Illinois, organizers of events co-sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion might consider beginning their event with a land acknowledgement statement. The Office of the Chancellor provides some guidelines and suggested language for a land acknowledgement statement. This suggested language is not intended to be a script. Event organizers can modify the language to fit the purpose and occasion of the event. The statement should reflect the university’s intent for the acknowledgement.

Regardless of the length of the Acknowledgement, the Acknowledgement is read aloud as the first order of business or at the opening of an event by the first speaker or host.

You can find the suggested statement language as well as the pronunciations of the tribal nations acknowledged on the Office of the Chancellor’s website: Land Acknowledgement Statement.

Events where it is appropriate for the Land Acknowledgement Statement to be shared include:

  • Graduation
  • Annual Freshmen Convocation; and
  • Critical Conversations.

An optional Acknowledgement, suggested by Native American House, can be used at the discretion of the event organizers. Events where it is appropriate to share the optional Land Acknowledgement Statement include:

  • Small formal meetings;
  • Symposia, forums, discussion panels, or workshops, and
  • Small events or receptions.