St. Lawrence Joins Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance
St. Lawrence University has joined the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center’s Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance and will engage in the Center’s key projects alongside other leading liberal arts colleges and universities.
“Joining the Alliance presents a singular opportunity for the St. Lawrence community to engage in meaningful work to help us challenge and deconstruct structures of racism, and will support our efforts to engage in antiracist practices,” says Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion Kimberly Flint-Hamilton. “Our membership in this alliance aligns perfectly with our Strategic Action Plan for Diversity and Inclusion by targeting racism directly and helping us develop strategic approaches to confront it.”
The Center’s mission is to illuminate, disrupt and dismantle racism in all its forms. The Center conducts research and works with colleges and universities to better understand campus climate issues; develop diversity, equity, and inclusion goals; and foster sustainable cultures of inclusion. The rigorous approach of the Center’s work is built on research, previous models of success, and continuous feedback from college and university partners. Participating institutions are provided with a 12-month curriculum led by racial-equity experts, an online resource library of rubrics, readings, and case studies, guidance on designing action plans; and campus climate surveys for students, faculty, and staff.
St. Lawrence and other leading liberal arts colleges and universities will fully engage in the Center’s key projects, including the Racial Equity eConvening Series, the Online Equity Resource Portal, and Campus Climate Surveys.
Racial Equity eConvening Series
Earlier this year, the Race and Equity Center began hosting virtual monthly “eConvenings,” live, synchronous professional learning experiences for members that address a particular aspect of racial equity. The three-hour sessions focus primarily on strategies and practical approaches and are delivered by highly respected leaders of national higher education associations, tenured professors who study race relations and people of color, chief diversity officers, and other experienced administrators and specialists.
Online Equity Resource Portal
St. Lawrence will have access to an online repository of resources and tools the center is developing for alliance member colleges. This portal, which will launch in late spring 2021, will include downloadable equity-related rubrics, readings, case studies, videos, slide decks, and conversation scripts to which every employee across all levels at each alliance member college will have full access.
Campus Climate Surveys
Member colleges will also receive a trio of campus climate surveys on a three-year rotational basis: a student survey in year one, a faculty survey in year two, and a staff survey in year three.
The center’s National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates has been administered to more than 500,000 students at colleges and universities in every geographic region of the United States. The climate surveys measure feelings of belonging and inclusion, the frequency and depth of cross-racial interactions, appraisals of institutional commitment to diversity and inclusion, and other related topics.
