º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù is committed to becoming an anti-racist institution.
The University develops and promotes initiatives, programs, events, and resources that foster deep personal reflection, dialogue and action on issues of race, racism and anti-racism.
Current Anti-racism Initiatives
University-wide Initiatives
There are three University-wide initiatives that are either newly developing or ongoing and essential to our long-term goals. These are:
During the 2019–20 academic year, the Board of Trustees began to formally consider the physical and social needs of º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù juniors and seniors as part of a review of their residential life experience. The aim was to see how best to provide appropriate residential and social space for all º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù students. In conjunction with this effort, º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù engaged the planning firms RAMSA and WXY — the firms engaged to develop plans for the University’s Middle Campus — as well as the Sasaki Group to consider the current conditions of the housing and social spaces available to º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù juniors and seniors. While these planning efforts necessarily slowed down in the spring as a result of COVID-19, these firms will be charged to continue this work in collaboration with the administration during this academic year. First, they will be asked to consider the numerous studies conducted in past years on residential life at the University, and they will also be charged to consider housing and social options available at peer and national institutions. This review work should be completed within the fall semester, allowing for the development of a long-range plan of the upper-level residential and social experience and the provision of new residential and social opportunities for all º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù students. As previously stated, this planning will be done as part of a comprehensive effort consistent with the goals and objectives of The Third-Century Plan and the DEI Plan. This initiative will help to address inequities in the student social and residential experiences.
We will support plans for new programming and improvements to º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù’s long-standing Harlem Renaissance Center, located in the Bryan Complex on the upper part of the campus. Further, faculty and the Residential Commons directors will work to develop a dedicated Sophomore Residential Seminar associated with Hancock Commons and the Harlem Renaissance Center. This initiative provides a robust living learning community for students interested in race, ethnicity, and the African diaspora.
With the commencement of the new academic year, we will engage º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù faculty and students, as well as national scholars, in a comprehensive review of º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù’s history, with particular emphasis on the histories of non-majority groups at the University. This project will build in important ways on the bicentennial explorations of º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù’s mission and history by acknowledging the history and contributions of people of color to the º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù campus and community.
New Financial Support and New Programs
With the generous support of alumni and trustees, we are pleased to report that º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù has three new sources of funds to allow us to move quickly to further develop and support DEI efforts. These are:
Named after º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù’s first Black graduate, this new endowment fund, valued at $500,000, will be used to support diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and will be managed by the incoming CDO.
The newly established Alumni of Color Third-Century Fund will provide new support for our ongoing and developing DEI initiatives.
Through a remarkable gift from trustee Giovanni Cutaia ’94 and his wife, Maree, we have created the President’s DEI Discretionary Fund to support new diversity efforts and programs. Immediate allocations from this fund will support the following new programs for º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù students.
Funds to Support Graduate Fellowships and Graduate School Applications
Applications to graduate school or national fellowships have high costs that can discourage low-income students from applying. New funds will be allocated to defray these applications and related costs, expanding these opportunities to students who identify as low-income, first-generation, or from other historically excluded backgrounds.
Peer-to-Peer Program Funding
The ALANA Cultural Center provides programming for all students. New funds will allow ALANA to support student-developed efforts across campus.
National Partnership
º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù has now joined . The consortium partners with premier research universities in the nation, with a small number of leading liberal arts colleges, to appoint scholars who have recently come through this consortium program. º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù has now joined this consortium. CFD scholars will come directly to º¬Ðß²ÝÑо¿Ëù through new post-doctoral fellowships and will immediately teach in the University’s curriculum.
