Race & Equity at the UW
One year has passed since 91探花 President Ana Mari Cauce launched the 91探花Race & Equity Initiative to address race, equity and her desire to realize the university鈥檚 promise to be welcoming, inclusive and just. The initiative is a tri-campus effort aimed to bring social justice issues to the forefront and build upon the university鈥檚 commitment to diversity. The Initiative was established to focus on three main goals: enrich the personal experience of 91探花students, faculty and staff; address institutional bias; and engage with communities. Several activities have taken place around these goals since last April.
A series of facilitated conversations has brought students together to engage in challenging dialogues about how race plays a role in their lives, as well as the lives of their peers. Moving forward, students will have the opportunity to serve as facilitators for these discussions. In addition, students (graduate and undergraduate) have been selected to join the Race & Equity Steering Committee where they will play an active role alongside 91探花leadership in making strategic decisions under the Initiative.
To address institutional bias, the Initiative is examining policies and practices related to diverse faculty and staff recruitment, hiring and retention. A staff hiring toolkit, a handbook of best practices for conducting faculty searches, and other guiding materials have already been developed and are being adopted by campus administration. Faculty-focused trainings like 91探花Tacoma鈥檚 Strengthening Educational Excellence with Diversity (SEED) is also an example of work being done to create more inclusive classrooms. Another aspect of the work focuses on engaging the community.
Another aspect of the work focuses on engaging the community. The 91探花will initiate conversations with partners in King County, the City of Seattle and throughout the greater community in order to learn from history and best practices. The Initiative will continue collaborations across campuses and departments to create opportunities for student involvement, as well as faculty and staff support for undoing institutional bias.
鈥淎s we look ahead, we recognize that there is more we must do to achieve the goals of the initiative,鈥� says Ed Taylor, chair of the Initiative steering committee and vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs. 鈥淗owever, we are poised to advance this work alongside students, alumni, schools, colleges, centers, partners and everyone who engages with the 91探花community to bring about positive change on campus.鈥�