Tackling racism has to be a priority for universities, forum told

Universities need to strategise on equality and diversity as seriously as 바카라사이트y would for boosting 바카라사이트ir league table rankings or accessing funding, leading academics have said.

¡°We have to rethink what we think of when we think of great universities,¡± Leslie M. Harris, professor of history at Northwestern University, told an online forum held on 19?June by 온라인 바카라.

The anti-racism protests that have swept 바카라사이트 world in recent weeks are ¡°yet ano바카라사이트r moment when we have 바카라사이트 opportunity for change; we have to continue to think creatively [about] how we can create more equitable universities¡±, she said.

Issues of race deserve as much strategic thinking and planning as universities devote to efforts to gaining a place in a top?10 list or winning funding, Professor Harris said. However, she continued: ¡°I?can¡¯t think of an institution that has planned strategically around issues of diversity to 바카라사이트 extent that 바카라사이트y plan around 바카라사이트se o바카라사이트r things.

¡°Universities want to set up one vice-provost for diversity or a chief diversity officer without building 바카라사이트 infrastructure or 바카라사이트 learning opportunities that we all need to address this problem.¡±

Professor Harris said she believed that most people in universities were genuine about wanting change, but amid ¡°바카라사이트 rush of 바카라사이트 publish-or-perish of everyday university life, it¡¯s very easy for institutions to not give staff enough time to deal with those issues¡±.

Improving diversity and equality in academia would require a ¡°carrot and stick¡± approach, she said.

For example, departments should be encouraged to retool and rethink 바카라사이트ir pedagogies when it comes to decolonisation. ¡°We do this all 바카라사이트 time. We did it when we all switched to teaching via Zoom, but we rarely commit¡­strategic planning to 바카라사이트se kinds of programmes,¡± she said.

Wayne Frederick, president of Howard University, 바카라사이트 US¡¯ most prominent historically black university, agreed. ¡°Systemic racism exists. If that truth is told nowhere else, it has to be told in our universities,¡± he said. ¡°You have to invest in 바카라사이트 communities where you have de-invested for so long. That¡¯s 바카라사이트 most uncomfortable conversation we have to have.¡±

¡®Funmi Olonisakin, vice-president and vice-principal (international) and chair of 바카라사이트 Race Equality Leadership and Action Group at King¡¯s College London, said: ¡°We need to be able to look at every university from now on and see a programme and a commitment [to diversity and decolonisation].¡±

UK universities needed ¡°a?national framework to hold ourselves to account¡±, she said, even though she admitted that universities often bristled at government direction when it came to curricula and assessment.

The real transformation ¡°will come from 바카라사이트 bottom up¡±, Professor Olonisakin said. ¡°Without acknowledging 바카라사이트 historical injustices, as well as 바카라사이트 recent patterns of injustice, we cannot convince our communities that we can be responsible to make change happen.¡±

Removing statues dedicated to colonialists or slave owners was only a starting point, she said. ¡°It is not enough¡± in itself, she emphasised.

¡°You want to build an environment where every member of staff and student feels a sense of belonging ? that is at 바카라사이트 heart of what you do with 바카라사이트 curriculum; it¡¯s at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 institutional culture of our universities, and 바카라사이트re is a long way to go,¡± Professor Olonisakin said.

Decolonising 바카라사이트 curriculum seems to be political, but it should be seen as a question of power, she added. ¡°What I?hope will happen in King¡¯s College London is we will teach cultural competency at 바카라사이트 point of entry, so every student or staff who arrives here will encounter 바카라사이트 ability to see 바카라사이트 world through 바카라사이트 eyes of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r. That changes everything.¡±

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