In the summer of 2020, despite a raging pandemic, millions of people took to the streets to join a protest movement for racial justice.
Many said they were inspired to take action after watching the video of George Floyd, a Black man murdered by a police officer who knelt on his neck for almost 9 minutes. Others said Floyd was just the tipping point following a long line of Blacks murdered at the hands of police.
There were protests nationwide and here at home, including a peaceful protest in Hightstown where the police attending took a knee in solidarity with the protestors, as The VOICE reported.
Organizations of all kinds found themselves grappling with a history of racial injustice. Depictions of subservient Black characters used on products such as Uncle Ben’s rice and Aunt Jemima syrup suddenly faced scrutiny.
Higher education also faced a reckoning. For example, Princeton University, after insisting four years earlier that it would not rename its school of public policy, named after famed segregationist president Woodrow Wilson, changed its mind.
Here at Mercer, it was also a time for increased examination. Although other efforts preceded it, Mercer’s new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, has taken on an updated form. It is now a collective of faculty, staff, and students making an effort to examine how MCCC can be the most supportive atmosphere possible for all.
The DEI is lead by co-chairs Stacy Denton, director of Upward Bound, and Professor Andrea Lynch, who are both women of color. The committee itself is comprised of volunteers from every race, ethnicity and background.
As it came together in this new form, the DEI committee began work in four specific areas: purpose, people, partnerships, and professional development. Each area has a variety of components, areas where the DEI aims to effect meaningful rather than superficial changes.
These changes include hiring a more diverse staff, reevaluating courses and curriculums, creating a lecture series to educate the community, providing more resources to students, and establishing a whole social connection app.
The organizers say they hope to carry out the goals of the Diversity and Inclusion Plan within three years. “We need to be intentional, consistent, and persistent over time,” adds Dr. Lynch. “We care about the students, and we came forward strong in that. “It was a really collaborative process to put this all together.”
The organizers say they hope some students have already taken their experience with the DEI committee as an opportunity for self reflection and creativity.
Amelia DeGuzman, participated in the DEI committee’s Anti-Racism Discussion Group last semester, and she was introduced to a TED Talk by novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that examined the stories that people can use to sum up others based on dangerous stereotypes.
DeGuzman says this motivated her to create a short-run publication that combats the single story narrative called Your Stories: an Anthology of Personal Experiences. (More info on page 6)
“As a writer, I think language can be an incredible medium of healing,” DeGuzman says, adding, “I want to share that magic with others, to help people find that channel of expression that has been so integral to my own emotional survival.”
In the Diversity and Inclusion Plan it says, “One of our long-standing goals is to foster a campus culture that celebrates diversity and inclusiveness, and respects and supports the personal and intellectual growth of all students, faculty, and staff.”
