About the Committee
The Committee on Racial Justice, created in July 2020, works to provide opportunities for dialogue among faculty and staff related to racial equity, diversity and inclusion.
The University at Albany is committed to achieving a status of true diversity, equity and inclusion across its campus.
The current moment in the history of our country – marked by broad social unrest under the rallying cry of Black Lives Matter and accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic – provides a unique opportunity for us to do so.
As a University, we have a critical role to play in ensuring that our academic community develops a thorough understanding of the history of racial injustice in the United States, its impact on higher education and its implications for the current status of diversity here at UAlbany.
Acquiring this background information is imperative if we are to fully comprehend how the people of color in our community experience the UAlbany campus climate.
Based on this understanding, we as a campus will develop initiatives, policies and practices that will result in creating the inclusive environment we envision.
To that end, the committee is charged with the following responsibilities:
-
Developing a comprehensive plan to:
-
deepen our understanding of race and racial justice and promote appreciation of diversity and inclusion
-
promote a harmonious community culture that addresses micro-aggressions and other toxic behaviors and calls them out wherever they surface
-
develop a vision for an inclusive campus climate to be incorporated into all campus diversity and inclusion operational plans
-
-
Implementing programming, including:
-
listening sessions with senior level staff, looking at the history of racial injustice in the U.S., its impact on higher education and its effects on the status of diversity at UAlbany
-
campus community dialogues that unpack factors that create racial injustices
-
ally training sessions and ally building across campus
-
-
Developing metrics to systematically assess progress of efforts
-
Presenting semi-annual reports to ODI on outcomes, accomplishments and challenge
Co-Chairs
Karyn Loscocco, Professor of Sociology
Arts and Sciences 321 | [email protected] |518-442-4680
Alex Pieterse, Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology
Catskill 213 | [email protected] | 518-437-4423
Joyce Dewitt-Parker, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs
Health & Counseling, Dutch Quad | [email protected] | 518-442-5800
Members
Alejandra Bronfman, Associate Professor and Chair of Latin American, Caribbean & Latino Studies
Social Science 250 | [email protected] | 518-442-4890
Samuel Caldwell, Interim Chief Diversity Officer, Office of Diversity and Inclusion
University Hall 207 | [email protected] | 518-956-8112
Yu-Hui Chen, Subject Librarian for Education and East Asian Studies
LI 304 | [email protected] | 518-442-3586
Ho Kwan Cheung, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Social Science 377 | [email protected] | 518-442-4820
Sylvia Roch, Associate Professor of Psychology
Social Sciences 358 | [email protected] | 518- 442-5962
Carol Rodgers, Associate Professor of Educational Theory & Practice
Catskill 265 | [email protected] | 518-442-5020
Sheila Seery, Vice President of Government & Community Relations
University Hall 104F | [email protected] | 518-956-8163
Marcia Sutherland, Associate Professor & Chair of Africana Studies
Hudson 151 | [email protected] | 518-442-4248
Brian Tang, Associate Professor of Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences
Earth Science 324 | [email protected] | 518-442-4572
Elizabeth Vasquez, Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Health Sciences Campus 129 GEC | [email protected] | 518-408-2362
Dev Dalal, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Social Sciences 385 | [email protected] | 518-442-4820
Laurie Garafola, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs, Community Development
University Hall 206 | [email protected] | 518-956-8140
Ekow King, Assistant to Vice President of Student Affairs, Director of Intercultural Student Engagement
Campus Center 130 | [email protected] | 518-442-5565
Dina Refki, Executive Director of the Center for Women in Government & Civil Society
[email protected] | 518-442-3900
Student Representatives
Damilola Adesanya, President Student Association
[email protected]
Amy Zhang, Business/Management Senator, Student Association
[email protected]
Lisabeth Kelly, GSA Equity and Inclusion Chair, Graduate Student Association
[email protected]
Ajay Raghavendra, President, Graduate Student Association
[email protected]
Abdoullah Goudiaby
[email protected]
Oluwatumilara Olusanya
[email protected]
Workshop Series: The 1619 Project
The committee will host several workshops exploring The 1619 Project, a New York Times Magazine initiative comprised of a series of essays highlighting our country’s history by "placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the national narrative."
Download the full issue of The 1619 Project.
We have selected the essay "The Idea of America," by Nikole Hannah-Jones, to kick off this series.
The learning objectives for this essay include exploring:
-
how laws, policies, and systems developed to enforce the enslavement of Black Americans before the Civil War influenced laws, policies, and systems in years since; and,
-
how activism by Black Americans throughout U.S. history has contributed to laws/policies that have benefited all people living in the U.S.
We will discuss this essay in a three-part workshop:
Part One – Watch a video of this presentation held on Thursday, October 22.
A panel discussion exploring how laws, policies, and systems developed to enforce the enslavement of Black Americans before the Civil War influenced laws, policies, and systems in years since.
Part Two – held at 1 p.m. Thursday, October 29
Small group dialogues exploring how activism by Black Americans throughout U.S. history has contributed to laws/policies that have benefited all people living in the U.S.
Part Three – held at 12 Noon, Tuesday, November 10
"Unpacking the Results." Presented in partnership with Rockefeller College Your Vote Rocks Election Series.
Looking for more resources? We suggest perusing these lists: