Hello and welcome to this presentation on how we can
create a more inclusive for each environment where everyone has
an opportunity to participate and feels welcomed and supported.
My name is Dr. Tonya Price and I'm an Associate
Professor and 4-H Extension specialist with Virginia 4-H.
I would also like to recognize those who
collaborated with me and contributed to the content of this
presentation, Mr. Chad Proudfoot, Virginia 4-H Organizational
Apecialist, Miss Sam Fisher, Virginia 4-H Camping
Specialist, Mrs. Deanna Sumners, Digital Content Specialist with the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech and
last but not least, Noah Smith, Virginia 4-H
member and reporter historian for the Virginia 4-H
State Cabinet. The purpose of cooperative extension programs is
to learn about the needs of people and local communities
and then use the knowledge and resources of the land
grant university system to bring non-formal educational programming to
meet those local needs. This is why cooperative extension
is often referred to as taking the university to the
people and it is what makes the United States Cooperative
Extension system the largest non formal educational network in the
world. A foundational principle of this network is that
cooperative extension programming must be open to all people.
Historically, there have been many people in american society
over the years who were denied access to these and
many other programs because of discrimination due to their race
or national origin as examples. Over the ensuing years,
these discriminatory practices had been outlawed by the federal
government through landmark legislation such as the Civil Rights Act
of 1964, The Americans with Disability Act of 1990
and many other important laws and regulations. State and
land grant universities have also enacted laws and policies that
support and strengthen these protections. The Commonwealth of Virginia,
Virginia Tech and Virginia State University are no exception
to these efforts. As a result, Virginia Cooperative
Extension, which includes all Virginia 4-H Programming
is proud of its nondiscrimination policy, which states that
Virginia cooperative extension programs and employment are open to all,
regardless of age, color, disability, gender,
gender identity, gender expression, national origin,
political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation,
genetic information, veteran status or any other basis protected
by law. While the nondiscrimination policy sets forth specific
protected classes of individuals, the overarching idea is that
Virginia Cooperative Extension wants to create an open and inclusive
environment where every employee volunteer and program participant can feel
safe and welcomed. In 4-H This means that
every possible effort will be made to include youth in
our programs and events rather than to exclude. If you
have questions or suggestions regarding VCE's nondiscrimination efforts,
please contact your local extension office. As a member
participant or volunteer you are probably familiar with 4-H
national emblem, commonly called the
4-H clover. The four leaf clover with the
letter H. On each petal has been the symbol
of the program since around 1908 when it was first
used for county agriculture clubs in Wright County, Iowa by
the superintendent of schools. Mr. O. H.
Benson. Over the years, the 4-H
Clover has come to be one of the most recognizable
organizational emblems in the world. 4-H operates differently
than most other membership organizations like scouts or boys and
girls clubs which are freestanding, nonprofit organizations. 4-H
is actually a federal program operated by the United
States Department of Agriculture, with each state program being
administered through the Cooperative Extension service of the land grant
Universities. This means that in Virginia 4-H operates
as part of Virginia Cooperative Extension at both Virginia Tech
and Virginia State University. Like other organizations which protect
their name and symbols for each also actively protects its
name and emblem to make sure that it is only
used for purposes that reflect the standards and guidelines of
the 4-H program. The United States Secretary of
Agriculture sets forth policies on using and protecting the name
and emblem of 4-H. These criteria include the
need to always have the name and emblem used in
a way that enhances 4-H's educational mission, promotes
trust and 4-H and does not endorse nor imply
4-H's endorsement of any product or program. Another
important regulation says that the 4-H name and
emblem must have no associations with products or services that
are not in the public interest or that could harm
the health of the American public or there any way
inconsistent with positive youth development or any of the guiding
principles of rage. This means that cannot be part
of partisan political events or have a name or have
the name and emblem used in such a way as
it looks like 4-H is endorsing or
supporting any candidate for office. Nor can it be
part of political issues not directly related to its program
or purpose. However, as a part of its
educational mission, 4-H can encourage members and volunteers
to do things to be um, civically are politically
active in their local communities and to support member development
in areas such a civic engagement, service learning and
community development. Use of the 4-H name and
emblem are regulated within a county or city by the
local extension agent. Any use across counties and cities
or throughout the state is regulated by the state 4-H
office. Misuse of any of these principles governing the
name and emblem can subject clubs, members and leaders
to various forms of disciplinary action. Please contact your
local extension office for guidance before you or your club
participate in any activity which may come into conflict with
any um, of the 4-H name and emblem
standards. The 4-H emblem is one of the
most recognized logos in the world. It proudly represents
America's largest youth organization and as previously mentioned should always
be presented and used in a respectful way. The
4-H clover represents a standard of quality equity and
inclusion and youth development And because of this, it
is important that we, as faculty, staff,
volunteers members and alumni keep our personal views separate from
the 4-H Clover. Therefore, when advocating for
the 4-H program, whether in person virtually or
on social media platforms, there should be no mention
text, graphics, videos, sound or other media
that represents personal views that differ from the official position
of the 4-H program. As examples, you
would never want to associate the 4-H Clover with
any personal opinions that include profanity, illegal substances or
substances youth cannot engage in, such as smoking and
alcohol, illegal weapons solicitation and or advocacy of sexual
misconduct, controversial topics such as abortion or legalizing marijuana,
as well as the promotion of religion, politics
and anything contrary to the V. C. E.
Nondiscrimination policy. It's important to always think about
whether a position statement or activity represents a personal view
or the position of 4-H What may seem
clear to the person making the statement may be implied
differently by others who view it. We must all
take care to ensure that there is no implication that
we are speaking for 4-H When we are
making our own personal views. Note this is true
even with activities which are virtual on social media or
taking place through interactions such as text. This includes
activities such as wearing clothing or jewelry with 4-H.
Emblem or otherwise identifying ourselves with 4-H
When engaging in inappropriate activities to ensure we are not
promoting and sharing information that isn't in line with 4-H's
Nondiscrimination policy. It is important
that we steer clear of endorsements, especially those related
to politics, products companies and religion. If you
saw this advertisement, would you think it was sponsored
by 4-H? What part of it gives you
that impression? In reality this was a marketing piece
for the Iowa Hereford Breeders Association and 4-H had
absolutely nothing to do with it. Yet when you
see the 4-H shirt, you automatically assume it
is 4-H sponsored. This is an example of
how easy it is to be misunderstood. This message
on the ad was quite offensive to many and when
paired with the 4-H clover, 4-H came
under fire. This is a reminder that as a
keeper of the clover we need to be reminded and
remind our partners and others we work with. That
is an important to include the 4-H agent if
the 4-H brand is going to be used so
you can ensure it is used properly as stated before
you are keepers of the clover. When you sign
up to volunteer or work for 4-H, you
are agreeing to the mission of the organization and to
act as a positive role model. The bumper stickers
on the screen with the exception of the 4-H
one represents either a political or religious opinion. We
are all free to express these opinions. However,
the Clover does not belong among them by placing a
4-H sticker with the others here on the page.
It may appear that 4-H endorses those opinions
when in fact it does not. Again 4-H
does not endorse any political opinions. We are an
organization open to all and as keepers of the clover,
it is our responsibility to ensure no one feels
excluded in in in accordance with both Virginia Tech and
Virginia Cooperative Extension social media policies. Virginia 4-H
units clubs and organizations should not use social media to
promote personal opinions, political parties or political candidates or
causes that are not supported by Virginia Tech Virginia State
University Virginia Cooperative Extension Virginia 4-H Or 4-H
I would like to read for you now
this scenario that you're seeing on your screen. My
daughter is in a 4-H club. The leader
requires all members to be her friend On her personal
facebook page in order to facilitate 4-H Group
communications and post 4-H events. In addition to
all the 4-H communications. This leader uses her
facebook page to post her daily political and religious views
with links to political and religious videos and text.
I want you to keep the scenario in mind as
we go through the next few slides is this use
of social media acceptable or inappropriate, All VC,
all VC unit and 4-H facebook pages should be
local business or place pages. Using a personal facebook
page for organization is against facebook's and Virginia Cooperative Extension's
policy play play pay close attention to which page you
are sharing information from or on. It is dangerously
easy to accidentally post on the page. You don't
mean to do so. So be aware of both
the content you post and where you post it.
There are a few things to avoid when posting on
your on your 4-H Social media pages avoid
posting biased or information that is not research based,
avoid political endorsements or post, avoid endorsing products or
other items for sale, avoid posting or sharing information
that would be considered taking a stance on issues that
are controversial. You are representing V. C.
And Virginia 4-H Through organizational social media pages.
So avoid treating these pages as personal pages avoid
sharing posts or content that could appear as a product
or business endorsement. Use the proper organizational voice when
writing posts when posting to a V. C. E.
Unit or 4-H Page always write
a third person we our and not first person ah
ma It is best to avoid following or liking political
party or candidate pages even if they are supporters of
Virginia 4-H Or your local 4-H
Club political figures and pages are more than welcome to
follow Virginia 4-H pages. If a post directly
relates to an event that involves a political candidate,
the Virginia agribusiness banquet or 4-H D.
At the capital for example, it is perfectly fine
to like it. It is also fun to post
about meeting a political figure during such an event.
This brings us back to our our facebook page scenario.
My daughter is in a 4-H club.
The leader requires all members to be her friend on
her personal facebook page in order to facilitate 4-H.
Group communications and post 4-H events. In
addition to all the 4-H Communications, this
leader uses her facebook page to post her daily political
and religious views with links to political and religious videos
and text as we have learned. It is not
okay for a 4-H club leader or extension agent
to use a personal facebook page to post both 4-H
communications and personal opinions. An official 4-H
page must only contain 4-H related information that is
free of biased. Here are some examples of acceptable
posts that feature 4-Hrs and political figures. As
you can see politicians and 4-Hrs are pictured together.
But the photos or text do not imply any
kind of endorsement or political opinion. These slides are
also good examples of politicians and large businesses or corporations
interacting with 4-H Again, these do not
imply that Virginia 4-H supports the politician political campaign
or corporations policies like political parties or candidates, Virginia
4-H does not endorse businesses or cooperations. However
it is fun to post about campaigns or projects involving
business partners, especially those collaborating with National 4-H
on social media. As you can see tractor supply,
Joann fabrics and crafts and box but well are
all supporters of 4-H and run annual promotions that
we share on social media. It is important to
note that we as Virginia 4-H promote the campaigns
like the annual tractor for H paper clover event and
not the actual business. For example, it's fine
to say that tractor supply or Joanne's fabrics, fabrics
and crafts is partnering with 4-H to support 4-H
But it is not okay to create a
post endorsing tractor supply as the best place to shop
or endorsing products, tractor supply or Joanne's fabrics and
crafts sales on this lot are the resources. We
used to create this presentation. You can click on
each of these to learn more about our policies.
As I conclude, I would like to thank each
of you for your time in listening to this important
topic and would like to also provide a special thank
you to all who contributed to the content and review
of this presentation. In addition to the folks I
mentioned in the beginning of the presentation, I would
also like to recognize mr jeremy johnson. Assistant Director
and State 4-H Leader Mrs Alyssa Walden for
each extension agent for Stafford County and state program Leader
for Youth mrs Katherine carter Assistant Youth livestock programming specialist.
Dr. Crystal Tyler Mackey Extension Leader, inclusion and
diversity and community viability extension specialist and the Virginia 4-H
State Office faculty. Should you have any
questions or comments or would like to discuss this presentation
further? Please don't hesitate to reach out to any
of the contacts listed here on the slot. Thanks
again for your time and attention and listening to this
presentation, and I hope you have a great day 282 --> A:middle L:90% .