Northwestern offers graduate assistant jobs to serve specific races, sexualities

Northwestern University’s Campus Inclusion & Community (CIC) office has listed paid graduate assistant positions for the 2023-2024 academic year to assist in content production for various identity-based student groups, including LGBTQ+, Latinx/o/a, and Black students on campus.

Each position “will be supervised by one of our five full-time staff members, who each serve as a content expert for one of the following student communities,” the description page for each position says. CIC lists eight positions, five of which are identity-based: Asian American, Pacific Islander, Desi Students, Native and Indigenous Students, African-American / Black Students, Latinx/a/o Students, and LGBTQIA+ Students. 

The Asian American, Pacific Islander, Desi Students position is the only one filled as of August 1.

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The identity-based graduate assistants will be under the Multicultural Student Affairs (MSA) department, one of three departments within CIC.

The primary job of each assistant will be to help organize events that cater to the group’s identity and provide oversight of any bureaucratic needs.

Among the list of responsibilities for the LGBTQIA+ student graduate assistant are to “Plan, implement, and evaluate MSA sponsored events throughout the year (usually monthly) with a specific focus on the LGBTQIA+ student population” and “Research best practices at other universities as it relates gender expansive and sexual orientation-related services, events, and educational resources.”

The Latinx/o/a role requires the assistant to aid in putting on events and programs for Latinx Heritage Month and “the annual Latinx Congratulatory Celebration.”

Despite being assigned to work with one group of students, the descriptions for the positions note that graduate assistants will be able to associate professionally with other groups as well. 

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For instance, the description for the LGBTQIA+ position says that “the GA is also given the opportunity to work across communities through collaborations both within and outside of CIC that address the needs of the LGBTQIA+ student body while remaining in scope of MSA’s goals and learning outcomes.”

The hourly rate for the positions is $16.00, with a maximum of twenty hours a week.

This is not the first time Northwestern has offered graduate assistant positions that focus on diversity. The university offered a graduate position in Social Justice Education for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Campus Reform contacted Northwestern, Campus Inclusion & Community, and Multicultural Student Affairs for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.