This past year the Wake Forest community has undergone significant controversy along racial lines. The modern university prides itself on serving as a bastion in our society for conversation, diversity, and an understanding of others. Which is why many of these events shook Wake Forest’s campus so greatly.
Among the most prominent were the following: photos uncovered of former students wearing blackface in yearbook images, faculty pictured in front of the confederate flag held on campus, a social media post accused of racism towards students of Winston-Salem State University, along with other events that boiled into a year ridden in tension.
Some of the more vocal students at Wake Forest have gone so far as to criticize the administration for doing little to improve racial equity on campus. Some of these concerned students form the Anti-Racism coalition. This coalition has petitioned to the school’s administration for immediate reform to better the treatment of minority students on campus.
Their initial manifesto quoted these ten demands to address the inequities towards minority students on campus:
1. The creation and enforcement of zero-tolerance policy for white supremacy.
2. A formal, public apology from the Allmans and Pittard.
3. A space explicitly for Black students.
4. Transparency in the Bias Reporting System.
5. Clear and concise consequences for racially motivated acts against people of color.
6. For all monuments, plaques, busts, buildings, art that is connected to the confederacy, white supremacy, or eugenics to be taken down, renamed, or rededicated.
7.Administration’s commitment to seeking equity.
8.Intentional effort into ensuring the wellbeing of Black students on campus.
9.Acknowledgment that higher admissions rates of Black students does not compensate for the anti-black racism present on campus.
As a response to the campus controversies, President Hatch has launched a new initiative to combat the issue. The President’s Commission on Race, Equity, and Community. This commission is designed with the intent of conducting a review of policies and practices that can be reformed to “cultivate a more diverse, equitable and welcoming learning community.” This commission will be led by selected faculty and students who are to deliver a final written report to the President for suggest changes in policy to address the concerns of racial inequity on campus.
The Wake Forest Review reached out to one of the leaders of the commission, Dr. Jose Villalba who is the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer for further detail on the new commissions:
What are some examples of bias training that you would like to implement – and why do you think it would be effective?
“The Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) offers several opportunities to enhance our community’s ability to increase awareness and empathy around our commonalities, differences, and experiences. Most of these opportunities are provided through either Centers affiliated with ODI (such as the LGBTQ Center’s Safe Zone training, or the Intercultural Center’s myriad programming), or directly by ODI through our Diversity Education unit. Additionally, different administrative units on campus offer Inclusive Pedagogy workshops for faculty (through the Teaching and Learning Center) or community engagement (through the Office of Civic and Community Engagement, formally known as the Pro Humanitate Institute) for staff and faculty, to name a few.
Specific to bias training, ODI intentionally incorporates unconscious bias awareness and skill development into our offerings, such as the Living in Community sessions during first-year student orientation, or new faculty orientation events. For the upcoming year, we have revised the content in some of our student-facing offerings, in addition to working with the Office of Student Engagement to incorporate diversity, inclusion, and equity discussions into student leadership development.
I think all of these opportunities work towards achieving part of Wake’s mission to create a more diverse learning community, and I remain hopeful these efforts will be effective for increasing a level of awareness and understanding for each other and by each other. Ultimately, these efforts will help us better understand what it means to live, and learn, and work in community.”
Are there any policies that you believe need to be reformed to better our campus community in relation to race?
It is difficult to pinpoint a specific policy or set of policies, in that different policies ground the work we do with students, staff, and faculty. The President’s Commission on Race, Equity, and Community will therefore review what policies have been effective in supporting a more equitable and inclusive learning community, and establishing how to expand on and sustain those policies.
What is your perspective on the Anti-Racism coalition that sprung about last semester, do you believe that this commission will get at the root of the problem?
“I am appreciative of the work of the Anti-Racism Coalition, and their willingness to help our community better see and understand the lived experiences of our underrepresented students, staff, and faculty. The Commission’s intention to have students, staff, and faculty representation – and its collaboration with the Slavery, Race, and Memory Project, as well as the Committee on the Intersection of Bias, Conduct, and Free Expression – will serve to better understand and critically consider our university’s history, better assess the effective initiatives we should expand upon, and strive to ameliorate our systems for collectively increasing our ability to thrive.
The ‘roots’ of our challenges look different depending on the individual and their experiences, and simply pulling up these roots without better understanding their influence and their persistence will prevent us from seeing each other as fellow classmates, colleagues, friends, roommates, and team members.”
What do you have to say to those that are on the fence on the commission?
“Give the Commission a chance. Give the members an opportunity to come together, and learn from each other, and share their initial findings, and propose possible next steps. And when those who are the fence or are skeptical of the work have questions, let them reach out to myself, or Co-Chair Erica Still, or members of the Commission.”