[ View text transcript of the ROTATE @ EHE video ]
Hello EHE and OSU community members and friends. I am Noelle Arnold, Senior Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity and Global Engagement.
This past June, Dean Don Pope-Davis convened an initial steering committee with selected members of the Executive Council to create six principles for the college’s action plan related to racial justice and equity. I am excited to introduce you to these principles and some of the representative tactics.
The ROTATE @ EHE: Racial Justice and Equity Action Plan signifies EHE’s continued commitment to a culture, climate, policies and practices that honor and support the rich diversities and arrays of excellence, intellect, and talent in our college. At EHE, equity and justice are at the core of our collective work, and we recognize that our efforts are constantly rotating, as we are constantly moving in our mission to be more inclusive.
Let’s take a closer look at each of the components of the ROTATE plan.
REFLECT
We will provide opportunities to talk, reflect to enhance our awareness and understanding of the ways we have been complicit in racist practices and failing to address racism with a greater sense of urgency individually and as a college.
Representative Activities
- Develop a sense of anti-racism forums and listening sessions
- Develop guides and tool kits, including a template for conversation sessions
ORGANIZE
We will organize our time, talent, and resources to enact lasting change to who we are, what we do, and the impact we have in advancing racial justice.
Representative Activities
- Create unit and departmental action plans and programming devoted to anti-racist efforts to provide systematic and systemic change
- Create RJE Task force and ad-hoc committees
TRANSFORM
We will transform practices and policies making anti-racism efforts a foundational and pervasive part of our college polices and practices to achieve lasting changes to college culture and climate.
Representative Activities
- Create and disseminate an Anti-Racism Statement
- Develop Unit Diversity Plans
- Develop college policies and frameworks on diversity and anti-racist efforts in hiring, promotion and search committees
ACCOUNT
We will develop supporting structures to report issues and hold others accountable for racist behavior and create innovative ways to suggest ideas, evaluate and review our efforts to create accountability in teaching, research, service, and leadership for administrators, faculty, and students.
Representative Activities
- Conduct college reviews of climate
- Create input and feedback mechanisms for issues; i.e. SEI_CI, Advising
- Create annual anti-racism audit and report
TEACH
We provide our faculty, staff, students, and communities with opportunities to teach and learn and arm them with tools, resources and research that promote anti-racist pedagogies and practices.
Representative Activities
- Develop mentoring pathways
- Create an anti-racist learning environment by creating or enhancing curricula
- Provide grant funding for research on racial justice and equity
ENGAGE
We will engage and participate in anti-racism efforts through high-quality research, teaching, professional development and lifelong learning.
Representative Activities
- Create a RJE Resource Repository that includes external and EHE-developed resources related to racial justice and equity
- Create and deliver webinars, professional development
- Collaborate with and support community organizations that have taken actions against racism
However, the ROTATE concept also recognizes that racism has real, ongoing impacts on members of the EHE community. Therefore, our action plan honors the reality that at times, some people may need to step out to care for themselves and heal. When this occurs, others may need to rotate in and take on new forms of advocacy and anti-racist efforts.
The commitment to creating a more just and equitable society requires that every person in the EHE community-faculty, staff, students, alumni, and partners—be engaged in both personal and collective work.
In EHE, it is our commitment to go beyond simply calling for equality and to be clear and unequivocal in enacting changes that will lead to equity in all aspects of our college- including classes and recruitment, research and engagement, hiring and promotion, as well as the overall college culture.
Over the next few weeks, we will host an information session so that our community can learn more about the ROTATE @ EHE: Racial Justice and Equity Action Plan. During this session, the college community will have the opportunity to learn more about all the work that has occurred thus far; meet members of the Task Force; hear about individual initiatives for racial justice and equity; and find ways to join projects or formulate your own. In the meantime, we hope you will reflect on your own personal and professional rotations and ready yourself to ROTATE @ EHE.
