U of R formally launches Anti-Racism Committee

Dear University Community:

I write today to formally announce the launch of the University of Redlands Anti-Racism Committee and to share with you its charge. 

As detailed in the charge, the Anti-Racism Committee’s membership will be composed of faculty, staff, students, cabinet members, and alumni who will be focused on developing an antiracism plan and ways we can provide a more equitable and inclusive campus that invites perspectives from our communities of Black, Indigenous, Latina/o/x/Hispanic, and people of color.

The first meeting of the Anti-Racism Committee (or ARC) will be later this spring.

Launching this Anti-Racism Committee would not have been possible without the important and necessary work of many who have led us to this point. 

• BSFSAA, BSU, UCIC, Native Student Programs, the Juneteenth Commission, and CDI have been campus leaders in this space and should be recognized for their work. 
• Dr. Adriana Alvarado and Senior Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Christopher Jones for taking on leadership roles as co-chairs of this committee.
• Redlands Alumni for Black Lives Matter (RABLM), led by alumna Emma Wade ’17, who brought to light the challenging experiences and concerns students faced, as well as a call for changes to be made.  Emma and I met for almost three hours to discuss how we are both focused on making progress on issues of racial justice, equity, and inclusion at Redlands.  I appreciate her partnership and input on this charge.
• The School of Education led our partnership with the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA to conduct climate surveys for faculty, staff, and students.
• The University’s Board of Trustees recognizes that to address these issues, leadership begins with them, and they are committed to and engaged in advancing the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion.  The entire Board has engaged in three sessions of DEI education over the past year with internationally recognized DEI experts.  They have also created a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and that Committee is becoming a permanent standing committee (versus a temporary, ad hoc committee) as it works to finalize its charter.

In November of 2020, the University of Redlands through its faculty, administrators and Board of Trustees issued an Anti-Racist Statement wherein it unconditionally rejected racism in all forms and embraced the institutional change necessary to dismantle systems that perpetuate injustice and inequity.  We also committed to bring together our constituents to create and implement an anti-racism plan with specific goals and objectives.  Although this work was disrupted by the pandemic challenges and the change in leadership, today we will begin to formally engage in this work together as a university.

Fundamental, necessary change can be difficult, and it requires the participation of all of us.  Civil rights champion and attorney, Bryan Stevenson, noted: “We all have the responsibility to create a just society.”  

I am committed to working with you to fulfill our responsibility to promote anti-racism, justice, and equity at the University of Redlands for all students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, and visitors.  Without this commitment, the education and experiences we all strive to provide to our students at Redlands are not possible.

Thank you for your commitment to the University of Redlands and this important work.

Sincerely,

Krista L. Newkirk
President