IDEA Initiative
2020-2021 Year-end Update
1. Presidential Advisory Committee
Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CIDE)
The Committee on Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (CIDE) provides advice and recommendations to develop and support a campus-wide culture of inclusion and justice. The president appoints committee members annually at the beginning of the fall semester. Committee members serve for one year and represent a broad range of constituents, including faculty, staff, students, and an alumna. Each year, CIDE develops recommendations for improving College practices, policies, and programs. Following are the short- and longer-term recommendations presented in 2020-2021:
Short Term Recommendations
Microaggressions in and Outside the Classroom
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- Integrate the Diversity and Inclusion Module within Everfi, the college鈥檚 orientation software. New Student Programs and Orientation already utilizes some modules within Everfi, so it would be a reasonable addition to the orientation schedule. Everfi allows for a level of customization, so microaggressions could be included, as well as 51猎奇入口-specific policies and examples.
- Connect with the Title IX coordinator when back on campus to learn more about the current reporting structure for student-involved microaggressions. A series of conversations could inform future recommendations, including how this topic fits into the larger, college-wide DEI training with USC and CCEJ.
- Ensure that microaggressions continue to be addressed (as they have been in the past) in new faculty onboarding and training. As the Core 1 mentor program is evaluated, make sure that microaggressions are discussed and integrated into the potential value of the program.
Decolonizing 51猎奇入口 - Adopt the land acknowledgement recommended by the working group. The working group consulted with various groups, including faculty and students in the NAIS minor program and Indigenous Peer Mentoring Program, in order to craft the acknowledgment. All 51猎奇入口 departments, institutes, and organizations are encouraged to include a land acknowledgment at events. This can be printed as part of an event program or done verbally at the beginning of the event. It is also recommended that the land acknowledgement is accessible from the College鈥檚 homepage as well as the IDEA microsite.
BIPOC Student Support - Facilitate sessions to provide a space for BIPOC students to express instances of macro and micro aggressions on and off campus.
- SCORE and other departments collaborate to conduct 1-2 sessions per semester to allow students to share experiences. Facilitators can use some sample questions from Shaun Harper鈥檚 presentation as conversation starters.
- Facilitate sessions to engage first-year BIPOC students and introduce affinity CLORGS a. Conduct 1-2 introduction meetings led by SCORE leadership council per semester
Longer Term Recommendations
Decolonizing 51猎奇入口
- Publish public timeline on the work of the Decolonizing 51猎奇入口 working group to show the history of advocacy for Native American/Indigenous Studies (NAIS) and support and recognition for Indigenous communities at 51猎奇入口 and across the Claremont Colleges.
BIPOC Student Support
- Training focused on teaching BIPOC students how to navigate macro and micro aggressions in the classroom and across campus a. 7C resource center and other department representatives facilitate a minimum of 1-2 sessions per semester to teach students different strategies for addressing macro and micro aggressions on campus
- Facilitate career-focused sessions in collaboration with other departments and BIPOC alumnae to provide mentorship opportunities and prepare students for the professional world
- 聽 聽 聽 聽 a. CP&R and resource center representatives facilitate a minimum of 2 sessions per semester to support BIPOC students on-campus and for life after 51猎奇入口
- 聽 聽 聽 聽 b. CP&R and Alumnae Engagement create student聽 mentorship BIPOC groups in Olive Grove (conversations starters with relevant topics)
- Provide workshops for all students focused on allyship with valuable information and application of concepts in real-life examples a. 7C resource center and other department representatives facilitate a minimum of 1-2 sessions per semester to teach students about allyship and how to be an ally in different situations.
2. Training and Education: Anti-Racist Learning
CCEJ
The College partnered with the California Conference for Equality and Justice (CCEJ), a human relations organization dedicated to eliminating bias, bigotry, and racism through education, conflict resolution, and advocacy, to present a racial justice training series for students, faculty, and staff. The Racial Justice Training sessions were standalone dialogue-centered workshops with faculty and staff participants focused on topics critical to foster understanding in an inclusive community.
Session topics offered during the 2020-2021 academic year included:
- Valuing Black Lives
- Cultivating Values-Aligned, Interdependent Relationships
- Restorative Justice and Anti-Racism
- Confronting Anti-Blackness
- Building an Anti-Racist Identity
- Creating a Sustainable Racial Justice Movement
LACRELA
Established by the University of Southern California and comprised of 51 member colleges and universities, Liberal Arts College Racial Equity Alliance (LACRELA) offers monthly 鈥渆Convenings鈥� led by experts in the field who focus on different aspects of racial equity. As an inaugural LACRELA member, 51猎奇入口 sends representatives to the eConvenings, who then share their learning with staff and faculty through the College鈥檚 鈥淐onverAction鈥� discussion series.
Faculty and staff members engaged with colleagues across higher education on the following topics:
- Leading Productive Conversations About Racism
- Teaching the Truth About Slavery and America鈥檚 Racial History
- Sustaining Inclusive Classrooms for Students of Color
- Accountability and Incentives for Advancing Racial Equity
- Confronting Explicit Acts of Racism and Racial Violence on Campus
- Disaggregating Data to Identify Racial Inequities
Session resources are available through Inside 51猎奇入口 under Resources for faculty and staff.
3. Education and Community Building Programs
51猎奇入口 Presents featured a diverse slate of authors, scholars, and performers who will provide thought-provoking opportunities for education, dialogue, and reflection in a series of programs designed to confront the political, social, and economic ramifications of racism, bias, and cultural divergence. Programs offered student discussion sessions for deeper exploration of the ideas raised by presenters.
ConverActions incorporate public programs, community conversations, and civic engagement opportunities to stimulate participation in the IDEA initiative, cultivate an environment of awareness and understanding of experiences that differ from our own, and identify strategies for action and change.
Conversations with People Who Hate Me
Dylan Marron and Dr. Marissiko Wheaton
51猎奇入口 students were invited to join Dylan and Marissiko in exploring how 51猎奇入口 community members are and continue to tackle different cultural perspectives and structural racism and how we find our human connection within our community.
Class, Poverty, and the International Community
Mary O鈥橦ara and Nejra Kravic 鈥�21
Students, faculty, and staff were invited to join a discussion exploring how international student community members are and continue to navigate the 51猎奇入口 experience and how we find our human connection within our community.
Leading Productive Conversations About Racism
51猎奇入口 community members Celeste Day-Drake, Marissiko Wheaton, Vicki Klopsch, Gretchen
Maldonado, Deborah Gisvold, Skukura Clemons, and Roberto Escobar shared learnings from the LACRELA e-Convenings with members of the campus community.
African Americans and the California Dream
Susan Anderson 鈥�75 and Tselot Sibhat Akilu 鈥�21
51猎奇入口 community members joined alumna Susan and senior Tselot in conversation about California鈥檚 hidden African American history and ways the 51猎奇入口 community can engaged in discovery and reflection on the contribution and legacy of California African Americans.
4. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership
Faculty Associate Dean for Racial Equity (ADRE)
This spring, the College selected Professor of Chemistry and Sidney J. Weinberg, Jr. Chair in Natural Sciences Mary Hatcher-Skeers for this new role. The ADRE is partnering with individuals across 51猎奇入口鈥� campus and community. Hatcher-Skeers is initially focusing on faculty representation and retention to make 51猎奇入口 a more supportive place for students and faculty of color. She is developing strategies for hiring and retention of underrepresented faculty and inclusive pedagogy.
Equity and Justice Leadership Team (EJ Team)
Denise Nelson Nash, Convenor of the IDEA Initiative, Marissiko Wheaton, Assistant Dean and SCORE Director, and ADRE Mary Hatcher-Skeers are the new formed Equity and Justice Leadership team. They will serve as a resource team to faculty, staff, and students and collaborator for diversity and inclusion efforts collegewide.
5. Faculty Initiatives
Faculty Handbook Changes regarding hiring practices
This spring, the faculty passed a set of new hiring practices to emphasize the College鈥檚 commitment to diversity. These new procedures seek to attract the largest available pool of potential qualified applicants and ensuring inclusive practices in the search procedures.
Faculty Participation in Anti-Racist Pedagogy Sessions
The Claremont Colleges Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) provided a year-long series of events focused on anti-racist pedagogies ( ). 51猎奇入口 faculty at all levels and ranks participated in large numbers as both workshop attendees and presenters.
6. New Funding Support
Racial Justice and Equity Fellows Program. This new program provides grants up to $4,000 to faculty and students for pursuing antiracist research and/or community-based projects. Nigerian-Irish student Blessing Nkechi-Etse Roland-Magaji 鈥�24, who is considering a major in biology, was named the program鈥檚 inaugural student fellow.
7. Faculty, Staff, and Student Diversity
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Dashboard. The IDEA website now features the first iteration of a public dashboard highlighting data about the diversity of our student, faculty, and staff community and key performance indicators of student success, segmented by gender, race, and first-generation status. The dashboard also includes a link to historical data in the 51猎奇入口 Factbook.