<aside> 🤝 We welcome edits to our community agreement by any member of the Index community. We believe that each participant has the power to shape the community we’re all building together.
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Index is a community. That means that you’re in it, and we’re so glad you’re here. We encourage you to stay connected throughout your time enrolled in one of our programs, as well as afterward. Through the various ways you can interact with our community, you’ll be part of the discourse with all our past students, instructors, and contributors to Index. It’s important for us to be explicit with our values and expectations within that discourse: Any harmful or hateful messaging will be treated without tolerance.
These roles are flexible and change based on the context of the situation at hand. Defining these roles it allows us to better hold each other accountable and understand potential soft power structures at play.
<aside> 🏘️ They make up the commons. They are our PALs, visitors, participants, students, instructors, bookstore customers, email correspondents, faraway friends, neighbors, etc. They bring life to our happenings.
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<aside> 🧑🏫 Within our community, these are folks who organize, guide conversation, moderate and showcase their knowledge across our different happenings.
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<aside> 🙋 Students are members of the Index community who are — or have been — enrolled in learning programs at Index.
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Sometimes our students are teachers; sometimes our teachers are students.
Index is a living system, and we take shared responsibility in maintaining an equitable space. The infrastructure of Index is shaped in the form of the community, not the other way around. To contribute to this living system, it’s crucial to understand that generosity is not depletive — we believe that if we all give and take in equal measure, there’s enough of everything for everybody.
Here’s how we support these values:
<aside> 💫 We acknowledge the multiplicity of personal experiences within our community, which means no one’s lived experience can be generalized, stereotyped, or invalidated by another’s personal views.
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<aside> 🧩 We’re ready to be uncomfortable — everyone has different life experiences, beliefs, and knowledge. As we discuss, share, and debate, we keep in mind that conversation is not conversion. We’re excited by the multiplicity of perspectives. We acknowledge that open space requires pushing past your discomfort and assuming the best in each other.
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<aside> 💌 With that in mind, the safety of underrepresented people will be prioritized over the comfort of those in positions of power or that make up the majority.
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<aside> 🔈 Our students are active in shaping their learning experience and speak up when they need support. As a result, our instructors treat students as collaborators with the agency to shape their own learning experiences. This requires all of us at Index to cultivate a willingness to make mistakes and be vulnerable. In our groups, we seek to cultivate community growth through vulnerability and accepting feedback from others.
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