When I agreed to run as president for Division 1 there were two things that I didn’t know. The first was how much work it was going to be. The second was how much fun it was going to be. The 2023 APA convention was both of these experiences, magnified. A week before the convention I had excitedly—and naively— used the APA convention app to digitally circle talks and symposia that I wanted to attend. However, when I arrived in Washington DC, I found myself running around putting out fires. We had presenters who pulled out at the last minute, and the catered breakfast for the Division 1 fellow’s breakfast arrived a day early, to the delight of the suite volunteers who, after recovering from the inconvenience of being awoken 2 hours early, were excited to be fed breakfast sandwiches and potatoes! And the lack of coffee at the actual fellow’s breakfast the following morning (I had managed to re-order breakfast for the right day) caused some consternation among attendees – a special thanks to Diane Halpern who did a Starbucks run while we waited for hotel coffee to be set up. And then there were the joys: Attending and learning from our rich Division 1 programming, reconnecting with friends and colleagues in the hospitality suite, and the Division 1 Awards Ceremony and Social Hour where we celebrated our 2022 award winners with a champagne toast and those delicious potato croquettes. The executive committee meeting was also a personal highlight, as it ended with a surprise baby shower for me! Being celebrated for a personal milestone at a Division 1 meeting illustrates the care and connections that we have built with one another while doing the work of the division. It was these moments of joy, and they truly were joy, that made all the work of the last year so very worth it. Division 1, while always serving as a home for psychologists working between, across, and outside of the disciplinary boundaries of our field, truly felt like a home for all at convention. The sense of community that could be felt in our suite as people gathered for snacks, breakfast sandwiches, or catch up conversations with colleagues made me feel the most connected to APA I have ever felt. As the memories of lost hotel reservations and incorrect award certificates fade, I will remember the warmth, the care, and the connectedness I felt to my Division 1 friends and colleagues at this convention. Thema Bryant’s presidential theme of belongingness, highlighted by the convention theme of “you belong here" radiated in the main convention halls and in our division suite and meetings. Our new Division 1 President and president-elect are already working to continue to build upon the connections, community, and sense of belongingness that is infusing our division. All are welcome and valued in Division 1.
"As the memories of lost hotel reservations and incorrect award certificates fade, I will remember the warmth, the care, and the connectedness I felt to my Division 1 friends and colleagues at this convention."
As I look back on my presidential term, I can check off some of the big items I wanted to achieve. We have a new, more accessible, and hopefully more useful website, http://apadiv1.org, that has both open and member’s only free resources. This new website is where members can go to sign up for one of my main presidential initiatives - workshops and seminars that are free for members (see the ad in this newsletter for more information about programming). While we went into the APA convention with scheduled programming for 2023 and 2024, sessions and conversations at convention led to more ideas for Division 1 member programs. We will soon be adding an opportunity to join a Division 1 William James Book Award (WJBA) Book Club, this year reading the 2022 WJBA winner “The Power of Us” by Jay Van Bavel and Dominic Packer. We will also add writing “accountabilabuddies” groups for Division 1 members. My second main presidential initiative was to continue the work that Jocelyn Turner Musa started around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belongingness (DEIB) in Division 1. To this end, I developed a new position, DEIB coordinator, and appointed Stacey Stanley to this role. She will be writing an honest report on diversity in our division and providing some wellness programming for our members of color. Finally, I also stewarded some of our previous presidents’ visions across the finish line, including the Division 1 name change, which is now with APA council, and Division 1 investments, initiatives started by Sarah Friedman during her presidential year. If it passes, Division 1’s name will change from The Society for General Psychology to The Society for General Psychology and Interdisciplinary Inquiry.
In addition, with the help of David Devonis, our treasurer, and Jeff Arnett, our new president, Division 1 now has a good proportion of its money invested in socially responsible investment funds. We plan to use the interest from these investments to provide more to our members, including more grants, free member workshops, and funding for students to attend conferences.
As I left convention exhausted, I was happy to also be leaving the Division 1 presidency in the capable hands of Jeff. However, just a few days later I was thinking about the division again, wanting to update and improve the Division 1 listservs and invite new people to join our executive committee. And this is what makes our division special. There is so much energy and excitement around where our division is going. As such, I will end my last column with an invitation to you to be a part of this excitement. No matter where you are in your career there is room for you on the Division 1 executive committee. We have formal leadership opportunities (e.g. Awards Chair, Communications Coordinator) and also have opportunities for those wishing to serve in supporting roles (e.g. student committee, DEIB support). We welcome you to join us in our community and in our work, no matter who you are. To quote APA president Thema Bryant, “you belong here”.
