By Dr. J. Camille Hall, Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion

Over the summer, our community has come to embrace the understanding that inclusion is a shared responsibility. We have formulated recommendations to achieve our highest purpose: creating and sustaining a just and inclusive college. I am grateful to our College stakeholders for their dedication and thoughtfulness toward the college’s forthcoming diversity action plan for equity and inclusion and excited about the ways their recommendations will inform our work. I write today to share a plan in progress, developed in response to the urgent need to advance racial justice in our country and in our college. This fall the Office of Equity and Inclusion will provide Critical Conversations training to support faculty, staff, and students to facilitate meaningful conversations in the classroom and our community. Activists say that the first step in social justice is acknowledging that there is racism in all of us and that racial biases and behaviors take many forms.

To grow in our understanding and capacity to do anti-racist work, faculty, staff, and students will have an opportunity to participate in a Caucus group. Caucus groups provide opportunities for individuals who share a common identity to meet separately to gather, connect, and learn. Anti-racism work requires sustained, proactive education and engagement as well as systemic, intentional efforts at micro- and macro-levels. We are developing a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Canvas site to support learning and education. DEI programming and training will be offered in collaboration with our student organizations, and UTK and community partnerships. In September, the UTCSW Generating Justice series will host a Facebook Live interview with Caroline Williams. Ms. Williams is a writer in residence at Vanderbilt University and author of the New York Times article, “You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument”.

We want ensure that all members of our community know that they are a treasured part of the CSW; no goal is more important to me. It is my dream that the CSW becomes the standard-bearer for inclusive and equitable learning, a place where students want to study and faculty and staff want to work because our deep commitment to this work is visible in everything we do.  I welcome your feedback and ideas for building an equitable and inclusive community, please email cswequityinclusion@utk.edu.