Addressing race and diversity in graduate education: Practices from student activism

This practice brief presents the work of doctoral students who aim to reform the graduate experience in their department to support marginalized students. Utilizing strategies from community organization and organizational change theories, we detail the processes of fostering community dialogue and of crafting a demand letter to communicate students’ needs and recommendations. We also discuss implications as it relates to accountability, implementation, and overcoming pushback. By centering students’ voices in change efforts, we hope to empower other students in dismantling oppressive systems and implementing practices to make higher education a more equitable and safer environment for marginalized students to thrive.