Students get $11/hr to “advance social justice and diversity”

Washington State University is paying students who know “how power, privilege, oppression operates” $11 per hour to “promote equity and advance social justice.”

The “Social Justice Peer Educators” program was established in August of 2014, and according to the Washington State University Diversity Education page, participants “are tasked with developing and implementing educational programs and trainings for their undergraduate peers, which advance equity, diversity, and social justice.”

According to the job description page on the WSU Diversity Education site, a “Basic” qualification for the “Social Justice Peer Educator” job is to have “interest in learning more about diversity and how to advance social justice,” and “familiarity with how power, privilege, oppression operates.”

A “Preferred” candidate, meanwhile, is expected to have “experience building and implementing educational programs, and particularly programs that address structural inequality.”

[RELATED: UCLA paying students to fight ‘whiteness,’ ‘patriarchy’]

The job description notes that peer educators “will work closely with the Diversity Education Coordinator to design and facilitate educational programs, workshops, and trainings that promote equity and advance social justice and diversity,” and will work a maximum of 10 hours per week.

Other job responsibilities include “assisting with the research, design, and facilitation of social justice education trainings and workshops, such as the Social Justice Teach-ins, Dialogues Across Differences, Critical Film Series, and other workshops;” “learning about and modeling inclusive social justice community building;” assisting in “gathering feedback and assessing the impact of educational programs,” and helping with “marketing and outreach for Diversity Education programs and events.”

Among the programs that the peer educators help to organize are “We’re a Culture, Not a Costume: Halloween Costume Social Justice Teach-in,” “I Got Your Back: Redefining Masculinity Social Justice Teach-In,” and “Microaggressions 101.”

[RELATED: U of Arizona to revise ‘Social Justice Advocates’ position]

Additionally, peer educators “undergo extensive social justice leadership development and mentorship, which trains them in building inclusive community and also guides them in developing social justice educational programs for their peers at WSU.”

Campus Reform attempted to contact the Coordinator of Diversity Education at WSU, but did not receive a response.

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