Dive Brief:
- Student protesters continue to force change on campuses across the country with resignations, renamed buildings and holidays, and major commitments to years-long diversity initiatives.
- The New York Times reports that two buildings at Georgetown have new names, as does the Byrd Stadium at the University of Maryland; Brown faculty voted to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day; the University of Kentucky covered a 1930s fresco that features slaves in the fields and a Native American with a tomahawk; and Oberlin will add more culturally sensitive meal options.
- Yale has committed $50 million over five years to increase diversity among faculty; Brown pledged $165 million over 10-years for a holistic plan that would recruit and support underrepresented minorities in the faculty and study body; and Brandeis followed a 12-day sit-in with a commitment to increase the portion of applicants of color by 5 to 10 percentage points per year and double the percentage of faculty members from underrepresented groups by 2021.
Dive Insight:
Many colleges and universities have launched new dialogues on campus, aiming to help students and faculty from differing viewpoints find a common ground to talk about race and understand each other. The New York Times reports a group at the University of Missouri, which arguably kicked off the wave of protests nationwide this fall, has brought together a small committee of men and women — black, white, and brown — to have honest conversations and strategize ways to scale their newfound understanding campuswide.
The campuses that will come out of this academic year stronger and better prepared for the future will be the ones that develop holistic, strategic, long-term plans to create more inclusive and representative campuses. Once the crises blow over, these schools will continue their work, insulating themselves from future protest movements by addressing problems before they have a chance to get out of control.