My dear SSW community,
I hope this message finds you all well. I am writing on behalf of myself and the faculty with an update pertaining to our continued work since fall 2019 addressing our anti-racism commitment.
At the annual October Faculty Retreat, the faculty and I spent two days discussing the implications of the Zanzig and Gray report (read more about the work of consultants Ann Zanzig and James Gray during summer 2019 below) including:
- lack of trust within the School
- the School’s climate as it relates to our anti-racism commitment
- the ways that whiteness is centered within our programs
Zanzig and Gray’s report clearly demonstrates the ways in which our antiracism commitment was not working effectively and needed renewal and revitalization. Our world and School have changed significantly since 1995, when the commitment was first drafted. As a result, our current commitment no longer addresses the themes raised in the community meetings conducted last summer.
The faculty and I recognize that we have the opportunity as a community to rethink how we wish to hold principles of anti-racism, racial justice and/or racial equity in our programs and processes. Since fall 2019, the faculty and I have begun envisioning how we might revise or recraft a commitment that would be relevant, responsive and meaningful.
To inform this work, we set forth the following agenda of topics directing a period of self-study for ourselves. Through this process we identified readings to inform our discussions, and have used both full and/or affinity group formats.
- White fragility, how it operates on the resident faculty
- Principles of anti-racism
- Principles of racial equity
- Principles of racial justice
- Understanding these frameworks relative to one another and in their possible application to our School
- How to address the differential labor of, and costs to, faculty, advisers and students of color
- Creating a white accountability discussion group among faculty
- Knowing the urgency of this work, we believe it is crucial that the faculty and I create a strong foundation for ourselves before moving to logistics. By May 2020, we will have drafted a plan that engages you all in structured discussions throughout the summer. By fall 2020, it is our plan to present a draft of a new commitment for our School that will direct our work toward anti-racism, justice and equity and will identify the infrastructure, resources and processes we will need to succeed.
Please let me know what questions or ideas you have.
With thanks,
Marianne Yoshioka
Dean and Elizabeth Marting Treuhaft Professor
