Students, staff and faculty at Dallas College have chosen a new Common Book for the 2023-2025 semesters. The book is “Tell Me Who You Are” by Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi.

The Dallas College Common Book is the centerpiece of a larger program called The Common Experience.

Toniette Robinson, associate dean of special academic programs, is over this program. Robinson was previously an employee at Brookhaven Campus, then Brookhaven College, for four years. She returned to Dallas College in 2022. Robinson said: “I’m new but not new. New in my role but not new to Dallas College. So it’s like me coming back home.”

Before the transition to Dallas College, campuses chose their own Common Books. Robinson said Spring 2023 was the first semester Dallas College chose a collective Common Book.

Physical copies of “Tell Me Who You Are” are available to check out in the Learning Commons at all campuses. Robinson said any student, staff or faculty member who wants a digital copy can email her with a request.

Guo and Vulchi will be in a virtual interview 11 a.m.to 1 p.m on Nov. 16. Live streams of the event will be available, and a luncheon will be held at Brookhaven.

Faculty are encouraged to incorporate the Common Book into their curriculums. Robinson said over 30 faculty members within the English, psychology and history departments are using the book in their courses. “Sometimes they use it as a supplement to be able to incorporate a diversity perspective,” Robinson said.

“Tell Me Who You Are” focuses on how racism appeared in the United States, with first-person accounts from over 150 people. According to the book’s description, Guo and Vulchi were inspired to write “Tell Me Who You Are” after realizing they had finished high school and were yet to be presented with any real discussion on racism in classes.

Guo and Vulchi embarked on a journey across the country to discover and write about the ways in which racism takes form within the United States.

Robinson said, “I think that any person, no matter who you are, where you’re from, you’ll be able to read and find an interview or person that you’ll be able to relate to.”