Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1313608
38 Worcester Business Journal Teaching racial justice Ahiela Watson (foreground), president of the Clark University Black Student Union, along with BSU members (from left) Ivette Mendoza, Grace Williams, Jordana Emmitt, Eunice Dollete, Kadijha Kuanda, Gloria Anderson, Dylan Murray, Melissa Florestal and Eliza Quiñones M ore than four months have passed since Minneapolis police officers killed George Floyd, prompting re- newed attention to the Black Lives Matter racial justice movement and impelling companies and communities of all kinds, including many of the region's colleges, to release statements of solidarity, hire diver- sity officers and vow to make racial equity a priority in their daily operations. A third of the year later, what has changed? College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, for example, released a 40-point anti-rac- ism plan in June, including providing funding for faculty to revise courses centered around race. e school plans to implement a required human resources orientation program for all new staff and pursue a social justice learning require- ment for students. Of the varied Worcester colleges responses this summer, the most As shown at Clark University, a summer of steps toward racial equity are just part of the discussion BY MONICA BUSCH Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer attention has fallen on Clark Universi- ty. e school drew headlines when it announced in June it would stop hiring Worcester Police Department officers as campus detail following an altercation between Clark students and the WPD during a BLM protest on June 1. e an- nouncement elicited cheers from those aligned with BLM and sparked criticism from the movements' opponents. But while Clark delved head-first into discourse around police brutality and committed to new anti-racism training for staff and students, further unfulfilled demands put forth by Clark's Black Stu- dent Union – centered around directly addressing on-campus racism and over- hauling the college's culture – illustrate how a summer filled with steps toward racial equity are a long way from com- prehensively addressing the deep-rooted issues surrounding racism. "Within the community, there are people who are invested, and there are people who see the problems, and on all levels, throughout the power structure," said BSU President Ahiela Watson, a Clark student and psychology major. "But something on the administrative level is sincerely not connecting." Clark's anti-racism efforts In response to the calls for racial justice, Clark put forth a number of programs details by Associate Provost and Dean of Faculty Esther Jones, said Clark spokeswoman Angela Bazydlo. e programs included a faculty anti-racist reading group, and faculty partici- pating in a workshop called Understanding Unconscious Bias in the Classroom, led by Michael Vidal, director for diversity and inclusive excel- lence at Clark. at program was sponsored by the univer- sity's School of Professional Studies and e Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning. Separately, CETL established an anti-racist pedagogy resource center, which features anti-racist pedagogical resources for faculty, including theories, concepts, practices and tools. Clark's Center for Gender, Race and Area Studies plans to form faculty inquiry groups aimed at decolonizing curriculum. rough these groups, facul- ty will learn about anti-racist pedagogy, examine their existing pedagogy and adopt new teaching practices, said Jones, who added this work will formalize grassroots faculty discussion groups that gathered over the summer. Diversity and inclusion classes are being developed, and the faculty steering committee will take care to focus on diversity, equity and inclusion this year, said Jones. e school's Office of Diversity and In- clusion has partnered with the National Conference for Community and Justice to deliver anti-rac- ism programs for academic, administrative and staff lead- ership, as well as the faculty steering committee, Bazydlo said. All senior leadership at the school have commit- ted to attending a two-day anti-racism program. Faculty, staff and graduate students are encouraged to pursue the school's Diversity and Inclu- sion Certificate, she said, although it isn't required. For Clark's Black Student Union, the college needs to move beyond encour- aging these efforts and require them for all students, faculty, staff and administra- tion, said Watson "I've been told specifically… that the options have been given to take it or Esther Jones, Clark associate provost and dean of faculty PHOTO | EDD COTE