About the Retreat:
The annual Social Justice Retreat returns to in-person format this Spring 2024 semester and is open to all students who are interested in furthering their understanding of social justice, exploration of one's identities, and engaging in equity work. The three days of the Social Justice Retreat are used to facilitate a journey for each student in exploring their own identities, sharing their personal story with a small group, listening to the personal stories of others, and attending training sessions on privilege, understanding intersectionality, navigating difficult dialogue, and what all of this means for authentic leadership. This year's theme is Good Trouble as we empower students to be the trouble they want to see in the world.
Mission & Objectives
The mission of the annual Social Justice Retreat is to develop equity-minded, socially-conscious, self-aware scholar change agents, and to facilitate experiences to help these scholar change agents in developing a support network across campus, skills to be an ally to many identity groups, and courage to be a leader for social justice in any space. This occurs through a variety of educational sessions around the concepts of social justice, dismantling oppressive systems, and community leadership, and through exploring one’s own story and the stories of others.
What is the Social Justice Leadership Retreat?
Previous in-person Social Jusitce Retreat formats consisted of taking approximately 40 students with student/staff facilitators away from campus for three days and two nights of amazing activities and storytelling. After arriving mid-afternoon on day one, the group spends time developing trust and relationships in small groups with facilitators, as well as participating in large-group activities.
The following two days are used to facilitate a journey for each student in exploring their own identities, sharing their personal story in their small group, listening to the personal stories of others, and attending training sessions on privilege, understanding personal identities, and what all of this means in leadership. Fourteen successful retreats have taken place since January 2005.
The Virtual format of the retreat that occurred during the height of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic allowed for up to 40 undergraduate students to engage in the same experiences from near and far. The virtual retreat still spanned three days, with abbreviated sessions on Friday late afternoon/evening and Sunday morning, and a full day on Saturday, to still allow for the personal time needed at home while operating remotely.
How can I participate?
To find out information about upcoming retreats please reach out to socialjustice@ucmerced,edu.
