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
A Living Document for Community Comment
by Floyd Cheung, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion
in collaboration with the Equity and Inclusion Team
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).
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
26
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.
9
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.
8
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.