Dean's Messages Archive

Racism, Social Media, and Actionable Items for the College of Arts & Architecture

I am writing to acknowledge the numerous emails and social media posts in recent weeks from alumni and current students of color at Penn State documenting personal experiences of racism and racial inequities. Most of these posts are anonymous. I have paid close attention to the posts about issues of racism and marginalization within the College of Arts and Arts and Architecture specifically. As dean, and as an alumnus of the college, these posts ring close to home.

I hear you. I see you. I empathize with you.

As a scholar, artist, and citizen, and now as dean, I am committed to resisting racism, oppression, and social inequity in and through the arts and design. In the week after George Floyd’s death, I commented as much and committed to addressing structural racism through systemic change. To do so, we cannot return to normal. We must instead take deliberate and meaningful action. Our steps in this direction will require us to make shifts in the college’s culture [the way we do things around here], our policies [the agreements that guide what we do and why], and our allocation of resources [the support we provide to act on what we believe]. Shifting our culture, policies, and resources will be key to successful forward progress.

As we revise the College’s strategic plan, we will include a goal to establish a culture of anti-racism and anti-oppression through our values, standards, ideals, policies, and practices. Below is a list of just some of the actionable items that will fall under this goal:

• Develop an anti-racism and anti-oppression statement for the College and commit ourselves to specific goals and actions.
• Establish an equity audit series in which scholars, artists, and designers conduct anti-racism and anti-oppression equity audits of the College.
• Conduct a College-wide anti-racism and anti-oppression audit of curricula, policies, and practices.
• Conduct a national search for an assistant/associate dean whose charge will be to foster social equity, access, and impact through the lens of anti-racism and anti-oppression.
• Revise curricula and degree expectations for every student in the College to complete at least one anti-racism/anti-oppression course before graduation.
• Commit funding to support anti-racism and anti-oppression research, creative activity, and outreach initiatives.
• Hire faculty, staff, and student interns to advance racial justice, anti-racism, and anti-oppression initiatives.
• Increase anti-racism and anti-oppression programming.

These actionable items align with my personal priority to foster and sustain a culture of anti-racism and anti-oppression in the College. While we cannot revisit the past and revise what happened previously, we can take ownership of where we are now and make meaningful change in our present moment. This incomplete list of actionable items begins to take up that work.

There are two other actionable items that are under development. First, I plan to initiate a conversation series to discuss systemic inequities, oppression, and racism generally, with specific attention to the ways in which these systems operate within and as the arts and design. The format of the conversations is under development but will require participation by students, staff, faculty, alumni, and others associated with the College who are willing to share their stories, contribute to meaningful dialogue, and work toward positive action and change. Second, I am prioritizing the establishment of endowed scholarships to improve our recruitment and retention of students with financial need and whose race, ethnicity, gender, culture, and/or national origin would diversify the student population in the college. These two initiatives are additional examples of my commitment to resist racial injustice and dismantle systemic oppression.

The current visibility of racial injustice occurs in tandem with the coronavirus pandemic. We must be attentive to both life-threatening circumstances. I trust you will keep yourselves and others safe as we make our way through the summer.