Friday Forums is a commitment to the state and region in elevating national conversations and showcasing models of disrupting complicit racism. Each session welcomes national thought leaders to lead discussions and provide opportunities for participants to share ideas on actionable items towards a diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus.
2021
Racial Equity & Philanthropy
Racial Equity & Philanthropy panelists discussed responses to the lens shone on racial justice issues in 2020, their thoughts on private foundation philanthropy’s responsibility and role in anti-racism efforts, and new directions for the work still to be done.Watch recordings from the forum here!
2021
The Long Game: Deepening the Work
In “The Long Game: Deepening the Work,” we invited participants to reflect on what was learned, how we’ve changed your practices, and interrogate our own relationship and approach to anti-racism work. Our panelists shared how they have disrupted racism and systemic inequity, what they have built in its place, and what we must do together to inspire and sustain the necessary and lasting changes in higher education.
2021
A Call for Racial Healing
We will continue to uproot racism and plant seeds of anti-racism to grow 2021. In January, we turned our attention to the various practices and initiatives that foster racial healing in our communities, grapple with the tensions and harm of institutional practices, and set a vision for eradicating racism.
In case you missed it, log in with your uNID to view the main panel here. Breakout session recordings can be viewed here.
2020
Confronting Our Racism
The legacies of racism that constrain us are deep and long, and we are not going to solve our discomfort with training. The work we must do is about rooting out the systematic racism that lives in the everyday. We must recognize that racism pervades the structures that have raised us and that we in turn have fostered in higher education. We cannot run from that system, but we can dismantle its roots. We must unearth, uproot and plant anew.
In case you missed it, log in with your uNID to view the main panel here. Breakout session recordings can be viewed here.
2020
A Racially Just Workplace
In his powerful essay, “Why So Many Organizations Stay White” Victor Ray concludes, “At a minimum, leaders should stop thinking about discrimination and inequality as rare events and understand that racial processes often shape behavior in the absence of ill-intent.” The November Friday Forum, installment: A Racially Just Workplace addressed questions that provide insight and solutions on how we create a racially just workplace, what is needed, and how we create a more equitable and inclusive campus.
Missed the forum? You can watch it here!
2020
Establishing Anti-Racist Policy
Noted scholar, Andre M. Perry wrote “Racism is not a distraction…It is the policy of the privileged and the enemy of the just.” Participants brainstormed and addressed how organizations approach what is necessary for developing anti-racist policies and making change in higher education.