Our Commitment and Action Steps to Stand Against Racism and Hate

Dear Morgridge College of Education Students, Faculty and Staff,

The Morgridge College of Education stands against hate and racism. As a community of individuals committed to social justice we are dedicated to going beyond words to take action. Over the past few weeks, leaders across the College have worked collaboratively to continue existing efforts and to initiate new efforts to affect change within the College, the academy and the broader community. The following action items represent the overall areas of focus for the College. These have been identified as tangible, actionable steps toward building awareness of and dismantling systemic and institutional forms of racism. We will be working together throughout the summer to create more granular programming and action steps under each.

1. We will continue to review and amend our recruitment processes to increase the diversity of our faculty, student and staff representation at MCE.
2. We will continue college-wide training on issues related to systemic racism, institutional racism, and intersystems approaches to address these enduring forms of racism and discrimination that have marked the history of education in the U.S.
3. We will collectively engage in Summer reading of How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, to be followed by programming and small group discussions throughout the upcoming academic year. We will be providing more information soon on how students can acquire a copy of the book from the College.
4. We will provide additional support and training for faculty to re-examine their courses to ensure integration of inclusive and critical approaches to subject matter content and its application.
5. We will work with COESA to develop student-based programming that addresses training and education on systemic and institutional forms of racism.
6. We will continue leadership training for Chairs, Directors, and Deans on dismantling systems and policies that reproduce inequities in the College.

The list above is not exhaustive. We will add and update these action steps as we continue this important work. Further, we want to hear from you (e.g., what could we do differently, what more could we be doing, what shouldn’t we be doing, what needs to happen first before other actions). Consider sharing your thoughts using this anonymous survey by Friday, June 19.

Thank you,

Dean Karen Riley

Associate Dean Mark Engberg

Members of the Inclusive Excellence Committee

Members of the MCE Leadership Team

President and Vice President of the MCE COESA