Welcome to A-B Tech. You belong here, as do your classmates. You belong here if you have had great teachers and positive experiences of schooling. You belong here if schools and society have marginalized you and your community.
You belong here if you are Sikh, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Secular Humanist, Pagan, follow some other belief system or adhere to no organized belief system at all. You belong here if you are still figuring out what and who you are. You belong here if you are documented, DACAmented, or undocumented. You belong here if you are a person of color, or white, or perceived to be white, or if you are of mixed racial/ethnic heritage, or if you are perceived to be other identities that you aren’t. You belong here if you have an exceptionality or disability, if you have intellectual, cognitive, or emotional disabilities or if you are neurotypical. You belong here if you identify as gender nonconforming or LGBTQIA+, or if you’re still learning what some of those letters mean. You belong here no matter what language you grew up speaking. You belong here regardless of your political affiliation, or if you don’t have one.
You belong here if your parent or guardian has a higher education or if you were the first one in your family to graduate from high school. Whatever your body type, appearance, talents, abilities, identities, histories, or backgrounds, you belong here if you are here to learn and to be humane, inclusive, respectful, rigorous, and just toward the others who are also here to learn. — Adapted from the research of Dr. Brenda J. Allen, Professor Emerita of Communication and retired Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion and Professor of Communication at the University of Colorado Denver.
