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Toward Racial Justice at Smith

A key pillar of Smith College’s strategic plan is a commitment to advancing inclusion, diversity and equity. The plan also calls for focus on complex, urgent problems facing our nation and our world. These two strategic themes intersect in the ongoing work of imagining, refining and achieving racial justice at Smith. The following initiative areas and action items garnered sufficient consensus for us to move them forward to the appropriate bodies for consideration. See the full list of action items below. See our letter from November 9, 2020, for an update on our progress.

Toward Racial Justice Principles

  • Because Smith was not originally designed for the diverse students, staff and faculty that we have now, we are called to reflect on our past and present to build a more just and inclusive future.
  • Because we believe in the humanity, worth and potential of every member of our community, we must align our systems, actions, pedagogies and traditions to uphold our belief.
  • Because race is one dimension of diversity among many, we will take an intersectional approach.
  • Because we recognize that our individual perspectives are limited, we will engage with our community and seek their guidance as we build a better future.
  • Because transformation must be measurable, we will listen to community members and be attentive to survey data and other metrics. 
  • Because change will need to occur at multiple levels, we will work across individual, departmental and institutional domains.  
  • Because this work will take time and resources, we commit to investing human and financial resources over the long term.
  • Because racism and other forms of oppression are ever-evolving, we will remain flexible and open to feedback and revision.

A Living Document for Community Comment

 

by Floyd Cheung, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion  
in collaboration with the Equity and Inclusion Team

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS  
 

Introduction

This document is the first phase of an emerging strategic plan for racial justice at Smith College. It reflects the work of the Smith College Equity and Inclusion Team. This ten-person team was reformulated in 2019–20 to encompass an inclusion trainer/facilitator, a program/outreach coordinator, the director of equal opportunity and compliance/Title IX coordinator, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, the vice president and an executive assistant. The proposed recommendations that follow have been informed by student, staff and faculty contributions to Inclusion in Action work during 2019–20; consideration of student and alumnae/i demands; and discussions with the Inclusion Council and the President’s Cabinet. We share this document now for comment by all members of the Smith community—students, staff, faculty and alums. In this time of urgent racial crisis, we invite critique and refinement of this emerging plan as well as new thinking and ideas.

We begin by acknowledging that the United States of America was built on lands originally belonging to Indigenous peoples and with stolen labor performed by enslaved Africans and their descendants. Structural racial inequality is built into the very fabric of the nation. As a result, all people of color have historically suffered from the effects of white supremacy. As a premier educational institution that values equity, inclusion, and the fundamental worth and dignity of all people, Smith College must educate its members regarding the 400-plus-year history of racial injustice in America, reflect on its role in this history and act to dismantle systemic racism on its campus. Our goal must be true inclusion for each and every person at Smith. While we have made efforts in this direction, as a college we have not done enough. This plan charts a new, more vigorous path.

Since the killing of George Floyd in June of 2020, protests against anti-Black violence have galvanized the nation, as white people have begun to recognize not only their privilege and power but also the need for reflection and action. We, too, are committed to giving specific attention and energy to redressing anti-Blackness in all its forms and to supporting Black students and colleagues who have been deeply disadvantaged by the history and actions of this country and this institution.

We recognize that white supremacist legacies, historic and systemic, have affected and continue to affect not only Black lives but also those of many other races and identities. Therefore, we will take an intersectional approach to this work, recognizing that race operates in complex conjunctions with class, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and other registers of identity.

We will work at multiple levels—individual, departmental and institutional—because we recognize that change will have to happen at, and be enabled by, efforts in and across these domains.

Education

As individuals, departments and as an institution, we will cultivate a growth mindset with regard to equity and inclusion. We will inform our work with a knowledge of our past and an assessment of current conditions. As the scholar and author Michelle Alexander recently wrote, “We must face our racial history and our racial present. We cannot solve a problem we do not understand.” In this particular moment, it is imperative that everyone learn about the history of race in America, especially the long-standing impacts of land dispossession, slavery, and the evolution of the latter into systems like policing, incarceration, employment and educational discrimination, medical racism, and red-lining.

At an individual level, many of us have been educating ourselves through reading and conversation, sometimes supported by programs at Smith such as a book-club discussion of Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy and a group for white staff and faculty committed to anti-racism. Last spring, 86 students and 12 staff and faculty auditors participated in the course IDP102: Thinking Through Race, which engaged such topics as the history of race in America, the intersection of race with other registers of identity, and the contemporary effects of this history.

To enhance learning about race and its intersection with class, gender, ability, age, and so on, the college will consider

  • Requiring students to take an introductory class like IDP 102: Thinking Through Race; staff and faculty could also audit
  • Encouraging students via the Latin Honors system, to take at least one additional course that deepens their understanding of race in a national or global context
  • Collaborating with the Sherrerd Center for Teaching and Learning to enhance and disseminate inclusive teaching practices throughout the college
  • Developing a collegewide equity and inclusion curriculum for staff and faculty and make participation required
  • Supporting student-facing educational efforts like the Smith Equity Education program and LEAD (Leading for Equity and Action-Based Design), which is under joint development by the Wurtele Center for Leadership and the Office for Equity and Inclusion
  • Implementing an inclusion-focused learning event in the spring that would serve to extend and deepen the objectives of Cromwell Day in the fall
  • Observing Juneteenth every year as a day of rejuvenation for Black staff and faculty and a day of learning for white and non-Black staff and faculty
  • Providing staff members with scheduling flexibility and paid time to participate in inclusion- and identity-focused learning opportunities
  • Charging the College Archives to collaborate with student organizations like Weaving Voices to create and maintain a history of race, racism and resistance at Smith

Reflection

What is the state of our “racial present,” as Michelle Alexander calls it? How are we doing with regard to equity and inclusion, and how might we improve? Which of our practices support anti-Blackness? We cannot make progress toward racial justice without reflecting on these and related questions.

At the individual level, staff members are currently required to reflect on how they have contributed to “an inclusive campus environment” in the course of annual performance reviews. Faculty members complete a Faculty Record Sheet annually, which prompts reflection on their contributions to equity and inclusion. With the help of advisers, students are asked to develop the essential capacity “to engage across difference in place, culture and time.” Academic departments are asked at decennial and midterm reviews to reflect on their policies and practices with regard to equity and inclusion. All of these are laudable practices, but the quality and depth of these periodic reflections vary. Some departments, such as the Picker Engineering Program, set an ambitious example of self-assessment, ongoing learning and resolve for change. Others including mathematics, music, physics and Latina/o studies, have begun this work as well. Similarly, nonacademic units such as the Smith College Museum of Art, the Office of Admission and the libraries, have been engaging in listening sessions, consultations with the Office for Equity and Inclusion, and other modes of self-study and improvement. The Science Center Committee on Diversity has been engaged in this work for many years.

The Smith College Board of Trustees endorses and embraces work toward anti-racism and racial justice and regularly devotes meeting time to full-board training on these issues. It plans to do so again at its January 2021 board retreat. The President’s Cabinet, the senior staff, and all administrators and managers are guided by the college’s strategic plan, a pillar of which is “inclusion, equity and diversity.” In addition to these foundational, institutional commitments, this moment in our racial present calls us to consider

  • Increasing the accountability of individual staff, faculty and students at performance reviews, merit calculations and advising sessions, by tying equity and inclusion more closely to incentive and compensation structures
  • Increasing the importance of departmental reflection and progress on equity and inclusion by developing appropriate incentives
  • Acknowledging the significance of emotional and spiritual dimensions of reflection and integrating it where appropriate
  • Charging a collegewide team or teams to review institutional structures, policies and procedures regarding equity and inclusion and to make recommendations for change, by asking such questions as:
    • How can we improve our recruitment, hiring, onboarding and retention policies and practices to mitigate against bias and increase the diversity of our workforce to match the diversity of our student population?
    • How can we create a work environment that is welcoming and provides opportunities for personal and professional growth to promote retention?
    • How are we focusing on manager training to provide the resources, skills and accountability for the inclusion of every employee?
    • How might we adjust faculty lines, major requirements and other aspects of our curriculum to correct for past injustices and enact our present-day values?
    • How are we spending and investing our resources? What opportunities can we take to increase our support for Black-owned businesses specifically and local partners more generally?
    • What symbols at the college, including building names, require review and possible change?
    • How can we properly acknowledge and reward the work done by students, staff and faculty to advance equity and inclusion at all times but especially when such work is often invisible? How can we turn cultural taxation into a valued part of a colleague’s work, if they choose to engage in it?
    • Are employees across different registers of identity (race, gender, age, etc.) compensated equitably, based upon job expectations clearly defined by role descriptions and experience?
    • How can we continue to highlight the importance of reporting incidents of discrimination or potential discrimination and civil rights compliance?
    • How can advisory groups, such as the one anticipated for our Campus Safety Department, serve as models for other forms of accountability and collaboration in opposing racism?
    • Who is represented in governance and leadership at Smith College? How and when do we hear from the widest range of perspectives when making decisions?
    • How do we affirm the identities of our community members in our technologies and communications? (The Affirming Identity Through Technology Working Group has begun to address this question; how can we support and deepen their work?)
    • In what ways can we improve accessibility to not only physical spaces but also opportunities? (The Accessibility Inclusion Committee has begun to address this question; how can we support and deepen their work?)
    • How can we ensure sufficient and responsive mental health and wellness resources for community members, especially Black students and colleagues, who bear heavier burdens?
  • Collaborating with the board of trustees to keep them informed about the campus today, learn from their perspectives and implement changes that require their approval.

Action

Changes in policies, procedures and structures surely will follow from education and reflection. We must keep in mind, however, that the work will never be done. We will not solve systemic racism in a year or two. To sustain this work over the long term, we recommend that it be transparent, supported and routine. To these ends, the college should consider

  • Requiring all units to develop, publish and solicit regular input on action plans for advancing equity and inclusion; for academic units, the Picker Engineering Program’s plan might serve as one model
  • Providing self-assessment tools and consultation to departments in order to align their plans with collegewide goals regarding equity and inclusion
  • Tracking where and how equity and inclusion work takes place throughout the institution; one way might be by updating this map
  • Soliciting and publishing regular feedback from the community on institution-wide progress on equity and inclusion and campus climate
  • Supporting all community members in their learning and reflection while acting

Conclusion

This work will unfold in stages, the first of which includes inviting public comment on this plan. We will also seek feedback from the Smith community in other settings, such as meetings of the Student Government Association, Staff Council, Faculty Council, the Unity organizations, staff/faculty affinity groups and the board of trustees.

The next stage of work will include implementing ideas that have sufficient collective resonance and debating ideas that may require more consideration or refinement. We will provide an update on the status of this plan on Cromwell Day 2020, the theme of which will be “Tackling Anti-Blackness: Moving Past the Abstract.”

Committing to racial justice and equity is the most consequential work we can do as a community of learners and educators. We are called to build a just and inclusive campus, one whose systems, actions, pedagogies and traditions uphold the worth and humanity of every member. This work must be planful and sustained, visible and tangible, valued and prioritized at every level. President McCartney and her Cabinet, as well as the board of trustees are invested in taking transformative action and look forward to further shaping this plan through the collective wisdom of the Smith community.

The Equity and Inclusion Team recognizes that many of these items will take time and resources. In addition, this work will call upon broad collaboration across the college. We are confident, however, that working together, we will make progress on achieving racial justice at Smith College.

Departmental Racial Justice Action Plans

Below are a few examples of the research and plans that departments are putting into action as we continue this important work together as a campus. To explore further, take a look at a full overview of the completed plans to-date (available for logged-in users only). 

Education

  1. Educated ourselves about the larger context of inclusion and equity in STEM through a set of readings (Design for BelongingEquity Talk to Equity Walk; Achieving STEM diversity: Fix the classrooms in Science).
  2. Examined a set of twelve wide-ranging metrics to assess equity and inclusion among our engineering graduates.
  3. Learned about attitudes and beliefs in our community through focus-groups and assessments of students, staff, and faculty.

Reflection

  1. Faculty and staff in the Picker Engineering Program value diversity and are deeply committed to inclusion and equity.
  2. The percentage of international students in the Picker Engineering Program is double what it is for all students at Smith; racial and ethnic demographics of domestic students in the Picker Engineering Program match those of Smith College as a whole.
  3. We can better communicate what we are doing and how we address issues of inclusion and equity.

Action

  1. Improve communication to both internal and external audiences about our commitment to inclusion and equity and the actions we are taking.
  2. Pilot an option for students to take more time (up to ten semesters) to complete their engineering degree.
  3. Provide funding for engineering students to attend identity-based professional conferences.
  4. Develop programs to assess and enhance belonging among our sophomore majors and minors

 

If you would like to learn more about the Picker Engineering Program’s Racial Justice Action Plan, please reach out to Andrew Guswa, aguswa@smith.edu.

Education

  1. Conducted an equity review with partners Tanya Williams and Bari Katz that included an all-staff climate survey and 21 group and individual listening sessions with staff, students and advisory board members (2020-2022).
  2. Collected and assessed feedback on permanent collection galleries from museum staff, students, faculty and more than 500 visitors to inform new approaches for display and interpretation that incorporate a multiplicity of voices.
  3. Museum staff joined the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability conferences in 2022 and 2023. This national event advances the full inclusion of people with disabilities in arts and culture. Materials from the conference were discussed with all staff.
  4. Held staff workshops in conjunction with the Office for Equity and Inclusion on inclusive language, accessibility, and fostering community.

Reflection

  1. We need more diverse membership on staff and museum advisory board in order to do this work effectively. 
  2. The museum galleries and programming need to better reflect the multiplicity of perspectives and voices on our campus and in local communities.
  3. There are barriers to accessing the museum that we need to address in order to deepen and expand engagement with art at SCMA. 
  4. We have underserved audiences on campus and can do more to engage the full diversity of Smith students.

 Action

  1. Implemented policies for inclusive hiring and strengthened recruiting and onboarding policies to support more diverse staffing and advisory board membership.
  2. Reinstalled the third floor collection gallery to include a wider range of materials, time periods, subjects and artist identities. Works by artists of color now account for 54% of the works on view (up from 33%).
  3. Took significant steps to remove barriers and increase participation, including rolling out free admission, relaunching community programming, and getting grant funding to expand museum hours and outreach.

If you would like to learn more about the Smith College Museum of Art’s Racial Justice Action Plan, please reach out to Lily Foster, Deputy Director (lfoster@smith.edu)

Education

  1. Met regularly for two years with physics departments from other schools and other departments at Smith working on equity and inclusion.
  2. Gathered several years worth of statistics on who takes physics, who continues in physics, grades, and other measures of success
  3. Administered an anonymous survey to all students at Smith who had taken physics here, asking about their sense of belonging and perception of the climate in our department.

Reflection

  1. Strengths included: Most students from all demographic groups we identified found the department supportive. We offer many opportunities for students to engage with faculty, and we actively seek out a diverse body of students to work with us in research and in teaching.
  2. Challenges included: Students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in physics were disproportionately likely to say that they found physics classes uncomfortable.

Action

A few highlights of our five-year action plans include:

  1. Creating a new introductory physics sequence with an emphasis on life-science applications and without a calculus prerequisite.
  2. Offering research spots each year for the Achieving Excellence in Mathematics, Engineering, and Science (AEMES) program, which pairs first-year STEM students from underrepresented groups with faculty to do paid research.
  3. An annual equity and inclusion retreat to review the action plan, track our progress, and consider which items we want to prioritize
  4. At least once every five years, redo our demographic analysis of enrollment and grades, and our Physics Climate Survey.

 

Having created a Racial Justice Action Plan is a milestone, but of course we are still early in a long journey. Among the greatest strengths of our department is that every single faculty member in physics is dedicated to advancing the principles embodied in this plan. For more information, please contact Gary Felder, gfelder@smith.edu.

Education

  • With the help of our student intern team, we collected qualitative and quantitative data from students and staff colleagues to explore the question, “How might we ensure all Smith students feel seen and experience a sense of belonging in the Wurtele Center’s programs, spaces, and experiences?”
  • Student-focused research included focus groups, a survey, and chance encounter feedback gathering in the Campus Center.
  • Staff-oriented research included focus group interviews with other centers and initiatives on campus that similarly bridge the curricular and the co-curricular.

Reflection

  • The demographics of students engaging with the Wurtele Center are slightly more racially and socioeconomically diverse than the overall student body, but many Smith students are still unfamiliar with the work of the Wurtele Center.
  • A sense of belonging is enhanced for students when programs and spaces are co-designed and co-created with students, instead of being designed for them.
  • A center’s spatial environment matters in terms of whether or not students feel a sense of belonging in the center’s programming.

Action

  • Build capacity in and create opportunities for students to co-design and co-facilitate Wurtele Center programming.
  • Transform our current space and shape our future space to be student-centered, enabling students to see themselves as belonging in and to the center.
  • Deepen and expand our intensive, high-impact, cohort-based programs, including Leaders for Equity-Centered and Action-Based Design (LEAD); Collaborative Leadership, Design and Innovation (CLDI), and the Collaborative Innovation Concentration (CIX), to foster group belonging and build skills for equity-centered changemaking and leadership.
  • Share our model of collaborative leadership within the college and beyond in order to transform leadership practices towards fostering belonging and collective empowerment.

Action Items

Updated August 2024

Initiative Area Action Item Campus Partners Status
Community Engagement Identify one or more colleagues per unit to serve as liaisons to help carry forward the work of "Toward Racial Justice" in their unit Departments, managers, senior staff in process
Community Engagement Provide consultation and self-assessment tools to departments in order to develop their equity and inclusion action plans and align them with college-wide equity and inclusion goals Office for Equity and Inclusion (OEI) in process
Community Engagement Require units to develop and share action plans for advancing equity and inclusion President’s Team, departments in process
Community Engagement Clarify a path for departments to advance suggestions for institution-wide change, as part of their action planning cycle President’s Team, departments in process
Community Engagement Observe Juneteenth every year President, Human Resources, OEI done
Community Engagement Solicit and share regular feedback from the community on institution-wide progress on equity and inclusion and campus climate Institutional Research, College Relations, OEI Student, staff, and faculty were surveyed in 2023. Data sharing and feedback events have been ongoing since then.
Community Engagement Expand opportunities for off-campus engagement and public scholarship with local community partners focused on dismantling inequality and building equity Jandon Center, Kahn Institute, Committee on Academic Priorities The "Collective Organizing" course regularly being offered; SAJE ongoing
Community Engagement Create mechanism for highlighting the contributions and identities of staff members (e.g., social media campaign) OEI done; see for example https://www.instagram.com/p/CHipzSzhO_X/
Community Engagement Pilot a regular forum for community sharing and processing of local and global joys and concerns CRSL, OEI, Multicultural Affairs done, see for example https://www.instagram.com/p/CKO8GT-h2R3/
Community Engagement Develop process for addressing concerns related to building names President’s Team, Trustees done
Community Engagement Offer workshops for students, staff, and faculty to learn Calling In President, OEI done and ongoing
Identity Affirmation Virtual AMP (Athletic Multicultural Program) — effort to diversify our teams and recruiting practices Athletics done
Identity Affirmation Create and maintain a history of race, racism and resistance at Smith College Archives, History Department in process
Identity Affirmation Diversify dining options by inviting chefs of different ethnic cuisines to work with our staff Dining Services, OEI done and ongoing
Identity Affirmation Develop principles for reviewing symbols at the college, including building names, and consider possible change Committee on Mission and Priorities, President, Trustees done
Identity Affirmation Affirm the identities of community members via our technologies and communications Affirming Identity Through Technology Working Group, Information Technology done, pronoun choice and name preference have been implemented in Workday
Identity Affirmation Conduct review of affinity housing and make improvements Residence Life, Dean of the College pilot completed
Identity Affirmation Name more Smith buildings to affirm diversity of Smith history OEI, Trustees, ARD, Dean of the College Done and ongoing
Learning Create Antiracist Learning Community for Faculty and Staff Who Teach Dean for Academic Development done and ongoing
Learning Head coaches and administrators are participating in a year-long Return on Inclusion Program which will culminate in May with the creation of a strategic plan on inclusion for our department Athletics done
Learning Convene a student, staff, and faculty group to propose the best way to require a course on race and racism Provost, Black Students Association, OEI, OMA, Dean of the College done, proposal currently under consideration
Learning Collaborate with the Sherrerd Center, Provost, and the Committee on Academic Priorities to promote inclusive teaching and explore race and other dimensions of diversity in ways appropriate to each course Provost, Sherrerd Center, Committee on Academic Priorities ongoing
Learning Highlight and share with alums opportunities for learning about racial justice President, Alumnae Association, Executive Education ongoing and enhancing
Learning Embed equity and inclusion curriculum within staff and faculty professional development (hiring, onboarding, ongoing engagement) OEI, Human Resources Title IX and anti-bias training in place; ongoing in racial justice action planning for all units
Learning Support student-facing co-curricular efforts like the Residential Curriculum and LEAD (Leading for Equity and Action-Based Design), which is under joint development by the Wurtele Center for Leadership and the Office for Equity and Inclusion Dean of the College, Wurtele Center, OEI, Residence Life launched in 2021
Learning Designate a Presidential Colloquium in the spring to focus on racial justice and create a college-wide learning event around it President, OEI done; see for example book and film discussions and decarceration workshop that accompanied Bryan Stevenson's colloquium
Learning Create and support a voluntary staff and faculty group or groups for those who wish to work on antiracism with guidance and in community Religious and Spiritual Life, Multicultural Affairs, OEI done
Learning Continue training Campus Safety Department in approaches to mitigating bias and performing deescalation Campus Safety, OEI done and ongoing 
Learning Incorporate land acknowledgments and awareness of Indigenous presence and history in Outdoor Adventure programs Outdoor Adventure Program making systematic
Learning Incorporate guidance on when to call Campus Safety in Residence Life training Residence Life, OEI done
Learning Cancel all morning and afternoon classes for Cromwell Day OEI done
Learning Launch a staff and faculty book discussion of the Sum of Us by Heather McGhee OEI, CRSL done
Learning Create a Racial History Trail of important moments in Smith’s history OEI, Cromwell Day Committee pilot completed
Learning A series of four workshops on anti-racist pedagogy Dean for Academic Development, OEI done
Learning Choose first-year reading selections that engage with race and its intersections Dean of the College, OEI done and ongoing
Operational Change Diversify our vendor pool Controller's Office, Facilities, Information Technology Purchasing department has evaluated baselines and developed a draft framework for assessing and advancing vendor diversity
Operational Change Acknowledge and recognize the work done by students, staff and faculty to advance equity and inclusion at all times but especially when such work is often invisible Provost, Committee on Tenure & Promotion, Human Resources Making systematic; Tenure & Promotion policy revised in 2024
Operational Change Expand opportunities for Praxis OEI, Lazarus Done and ongoing
Operational Change Launch Indigenous Justice Working Group President, OEI Done
Operational Change Institute a Campus Safety Advisory Group Campus Life, Campus Safety done
Recruitment, Retention, and Development Providing students receiving institutional need-based grants graduating in 2022 with one-time launch grants President, Admission, SFS, Finance and Administration done
Recruitment, Retention, and Development Providing low-income entering students with one-time start-up grants President, Admission, SFS, Finance and Administration done
Recruitment, Retention, and Development Eliminated loans from its financial aid packages President, Admission, SFS, Finance and Administration done
Recruitment, Retention, and Development Bolster mental health and wellness resources for community members, especially Black students and colleagues President, Wellness, Schacht, Multicultural Affairs, OEI, Human Resources done and ongoing
Recruitment, Retention, and Development Improve our recruitment, hiring, onboarding and retention policies and practices to mitigate against bias and increase the diversity of our workforce Human Resources, OEI, Provost in process
Recruitment, Retention, and Development Mask names on cover letters and resumes during initial stages of staff and faculty searches Information Technology, Human Resources pilot completed
Recruitment, Retention, and Development Support Admission in its continuous improvement in recruiting of diverse student body, both in outreach efforts and on-campus programming involving staff, faculty, students, and alumnae volunteers Admission done and ongoing
Recruitment, Retention, and Development Conduct anti-bias training for admission and financial aid staff Admission, SFS done and ongoing
Recruitment, Retention, and Development Review Smith financial aid policies to ensure equity; advocate nationally for financial aid policy changes Admission, SFS done and ongoing
Recruitment, Retention, and Development Create and sustain employee resource groups OEI done; 9 groups currently active
Recruitment, Retention, and Development Require faculty search committees to contact directly PhD-granting HBCUs to encourage applications OEI, Provost done
Community Engagement Launch facilitated dialogue series for staff, faculty, and students to talk about intersections between class and race OEI done; see https://www.instagram.com/p/CL9uKYfBYH4/
Community Engagement Launch roundtable group to address crises in the moment grassroots campus organizers supported by OEI  done; see https://www.instagram.com/p/CKmrVKdhlU2/
Operational Change Stop identifying the perceived "race" of suspicious persons on campus Campus Safety  done

Action Planning Summit

The Office of Equity and Inclusion recently hosted the first annual summit for racial justice action planning, partnering with various departments and offices across campus to learn, share and grow together. Read about the highlights of this event.

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From the Botanic Gardens to the physics department, many groups across campus are actively committing to racial justice action planning, working to fulfill the college’s commitments to diversity, inclusion, equity and antiracism.

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Nine new units—including Statistical Data Analysis and the Department of Biology—were onboarded by the end of Spring 2024. More units will continue to be onboarded in the fall of 2024.

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Liaisons guide their units in their process of racial justice action planning, and meet monthly in a cohort setting, guided by the planning coordinator and facilitator, to learn about the other units’ processes and to troubleshoot, receive support, and build community.

Steps We’re Taking

  • The Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty were awarded a Racial Justice Action Planning Grant to support a series of workshops on antiracist pedagogy facilitated by Crystal Fleming during Spring 2023.
  • Smith Athletics have created a "Coaches’ Playbook," a diversity, equity and inclusion resource for coaches to learn from and reference.
  • The Wurtele Center for Leadership has hosted a number of focus groups and tabling sessions for students and staff members.
  • The physics department is planning a new companion course to PHY 117, to make it more accessible to students of all backgrounds, and they are hoping to build relationships with HBCUs and other potential sources of diverse hires.
  • The Schacht Center for Health and Wellness created a BIPOC affinity space.
  • The Assistant Head of School at the Smith College Campus School, Laura Tiktin-Sharick, has begun meeting with families to discuss matters of equity and inclusion. An AISNE accreditation, currently in progress, will support next steps.
  • The Botanic Garden has implemented a strategic plan and completed an employee development, diversity and inclusion certificate from the American Public Gardens Association.
  • Smith College Libraries attend monthly OEI cohort meetings and have met with the UC Berkeley Libraries Chairs of Task Force on Racial Justice.

Where We’re Headed

  • The Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty are gathering information and analyzing self-assessments.
  • Smith Athletics plans to hold a department meeting to review data from staff and student surveys, creating action goals and metrics.
  • Among other things, the Wurtele Center for Leadership will transform its center into a physical space that fosters a sense of belonging among a wide range of students.
  • The physics department is planning a version of introductory physics geared toward life science majors and is working to ensure students of all backgrounds learn about research and internship opportunities.
  • The Schacht Center for Health and Wellness will be applying for the Racial Justice Action Plan grant and will survey students and stakeholders regarding equity and inclusion at the center.
  • The Campus School will be drafting an action plan and working on a goal development worksheet, as well as using their awarded funds from the Racial Justice Grant for two trainings by the Center for Racial Justice in Education.
  • The Botanic Garden is in the process of mapping out top priorities for the next academic year, based on a workshop attended by the staff and students on the Equity and Inclusion Committee.
  • Smith College Libraries will identify best practices to communicate across the libraries’ staff and review current and racial justice commitments listed on the library website.

...and much more!