Asao B. Inoue's Infrequent Words

We are finally ready to offer the FYC goals statement that my colleagues and I worked on. If you are unfamiliar with the history of how this document came to be, you can read about it in my past blog posts on the subject:  "Why I Left The CWPA (Council of Writing Program Administrators)," Apr 18, 2021 "UPDATE -- CWPA Response to My Call for A Boycott," Apr 24, 2021 "First-Year Composition Goals Statement," Jun 11, 2021  Here's the full version of the goals statement. We hope it helps writing teachers and programs think through their own student learning goals with their students.  https://tinyurl.com/FYCGoalsStatement   peace  --- This blog is offered for free in order to engage language and literacy teachers of all levels in antiracist work and dialogue. The hope is that it will help raise enough money to do more substantial and ongoing antiracist work by funding the   Asao and Kelly Inoue Antiracist Teaching Endowment ,  housed at  Oregon Sta...

Statement Toward First-Year Composition Goals https://tinyurl.com/IRRL-FYCGoals   11 June 2021 As the newly formed Institute of Race, Rhetoric, and Literacy (previously known as the CWPA Outcomes Statement Revision Task Force), we offer this explanation and statement toward the goals for First-Year Composition (FYC) courses and programs.  Originally, we were tasked to revise the CWPA Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition in order for that document to be more explicitly antiracist. Our discussion with the CWPA Executive Board of our revisions to the outcomes statement resulted in our parting ways with the CWPA and taking our statement with us (see Asao’s blog, www.asaobinoue.com ). While the full goals statement is still in development, we present this initial statement directly to our colleagues and the public as a way to offer a good faith status report on this ongoing work. In order to serve our communities best, we advance this summary of our forthcoming FYC goal...

On April 18, 2021, I posted on this blog about why I was leaving and the CWPA and asked for a loving and compassionate boycott of the CWPA until it could demonstrate structural changes that addressed its racism and White supremacy culture. As of today, that post has been accessed 11,850 times (less than a week). Three days later, the WPA Journal and its publisher, David Blakesley, both offered a statement and letter of support of the boycott and the demand for the CWPA to make antiracist changes. Patti Poblete, one of the CWPA EC members at the meeting, offered her own rendering of and thinking about the meeting on her blog (4/21/2021). Six days after I posted, the CWPA's  Executive Board released a formal statement  (dated 4/23/2021). On May 10, 2021, the CWPA-GO officially separated from CWPA and issued this statement with demands .  As of this writing (revised on 09 Sep 2021), the petition for boycotting the CWPA has 778 signatories on it. That is over double the t...

The full title of this post could be: "Why I Left The CWPA And What Others Might Learn From It." Know that, and know there's antiracist lessons for everyone in this post.  Recently, I severed all my ties and professional associations with the Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA). I had to. It was the only thing I could do, and I want to tell you about it.  I've been an active member of the CWPA for about 15 years. I haven't always been able to attend their summer conference, but I have kept up with its journal ( WPA: Writing Program Administration ), the people in organization, the statements and other work of the organization, and the good work its members have done over the years. Also I was until recently a member of its celebrated Consultant Evaluator Service, which offers a valuable service to the discipline and institutions by reviewing and offering recommendations to colleges and universities concerning their writing programs.  Up until recentl...