Building Relationships, Inclusion, Diversity, and Global Equity (BRIDGE) is designed to assist incoming students with their transition to Emporia State University (ESU). The program assists in building a cohort to support them in their first year at ESU, connects them with resources on campus, and builds skills around dialogue and communicating across differences. Using a social justice education framework, BRIDGE helps students enhance their critical thinking skills while exploring their individual and group identities within the context of exploring issues of gender, race, sexuality, socio-economic class, spirituality, power, and privilege through the framework of storytelling.

Topics of workshops include:

• Exploring ways to finance college
• Enveloping skills for dialogue across differences
• Exploring identity development
• Connecting with others to build community
• Exploring ways to think differently and more critically about diverse topics

These workshops are designed to incorporate different learning strategies and utilize different modes of learning to better serve all participants. This program includes structured opportunities for students to engage in authentic deliberate dialogue across differences in order to build genuine connections.

BRIDGE Students will have the chance to move in a week early and participate in workshops and programs focused on helping students get comfortable with the Emporia State University campus and identify campus resources.

This program introduces students from historically excluded populations to specific faculty, staff, administrators, student leaders, and other campus resources that can help facilitate an easier transition to student life.

Participants will live on campus during the program. Room, food, and transportation will be provided by Emporia State University at no cost to participants. All students are welcome to apply, with priority admittance given to students who meet the criteria. Participants do not need to live in campus housing for the entire academic year to participate.