<div dir="ltr">Since our next meeting is somewhat distant, I wonder a few things in response to Jason Nix's message: <div><div><div><ul><li>How many of our colleges have recently offered professional development on antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion? </li><li>How many of our colleges offer antiracism and DEI professional development annually and/or require it of their employees? </li></ul></div><div>I suspect that the answer is mixed, indicative of a system with abundant resources in some regions and scarcity in others. That concerns me. This lack of a statewide approach to increasing employee awareness of antiracism and DEI means that the chance of experiencing racially unjust learning and/or working spaces varies by location. If you are a black student or employee about to study or work at a WA CTC, it seems reasonable to expect a level of employee awareness of DEI and antiracism appropriate to a center of learning. Our current approach does not support all employees at all colleges developing such competencies.</div><div><br></div><div>In addition I suspect many colleges have put antiracist and DEI professional development on hold (assuming it was ever initiated) while they focus on responding to COVID-19 and budget woes due to low enrollments. While attention is on other priorities our students and employees of color, particularly those who are black, continue to experience acts of racism in their interactions with employees at every community and technical college in Washington state. What will it take to prioritize addressing racism in our campus cultures? Creating a statewide expectation of professional development and college assessment for DEI is one action step to systematically address these issues. </div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for reading,</div><div>Anne<br clear="all"><div></div></div></div></div><div> <br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 12:39 PM Nix, Jason via Factc <<a href="mailto:factc@lists.ctc.edu" target="_blank">factc@lists.ctc.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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The more I read about the details of <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5227&Year=2021&Initiative=false" title="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5227&Year=2021&Initiative=false" target="_blank">
SSB 5227</a>, and the required anti-racism training the original version mandated for all college faculty and staff, the more questions I have about what role, if any, the state board intends to have in local decision-making when it comes to issues of faculty
training, instruction, promotion, and (possibly) tenure. <br>
The WEA lobbyist I spoke to told me of the revisions being made in committee, which removed the mandatory training (except for new faculty), as well as other significant changes to the bill. <br>
I emailed Ha Nguyen with questions, but she did not return my email. <br>
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My concern is that, once something is labeled "antiracist," we seem to be expected to accept its claims, world view, and prescriptive policy changes without question. While I welcome any opportunity to examine the claims made by Kendi, DiAngelo, Coates, and
others. I don't believe their work is should be immune from academic scrutiny. <br>
I worry that efforts like SSB 5227 are more about ensuring ideological orthodoxy than furthering the efforts to increase access and success among disadvantaged students. <br>
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There are serious academics (John McWhorter comes to mind), who are raising concerns about the role unchecked and largely unvetted antiracism ideology is playing on college campuses around the nation, and whether or not it is counterproductive to the very important
work of ensuring opportunity for students of color. </div>
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Once I hear language like "racist assessments," being thrown around as if they should be taken for granted, I wonder if we're treading on some very dangerous ground here. </div>
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While I'm the first to stand up for finding and eliminating sources of racism and breaking down barriers to achievement to any disadvantaged students, I believe faculty would do well to closely examine what this training entails as well as the reasoning behind
its claims. </div>
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This story in today's NY Times provides us with a cautionary tale. </div>
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I'd welcome further discussion of this during the next meeting. <br>
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/smith-college-race.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage" id="gmail-m_1322188569257169719gmail-m_-1112597197049309424gmail-m_4171709381444723244gmail-m_7298456214790887084gmail-m_-7714770119474221820gmail-m_-4772805157422943588gmail-m_3272211566330350317gmail-m_-3040775758736118136gmail-m_-6980352015535715581LPlnk" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/smith-college-race.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage</a><br>
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<a id="gmail-m_1322188569257169719gmail-m_-1112597197049309424gmail-m_4171709381444723244gmail-m_7298456214790887084gmail-m_-7714770119474221820gmail-m_-4772805157422943588gmail-m_3272211566330350317gmail-m_-3040775758736118136gmail-m_-6980352015535715581LPImageAnchor436267" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/smith-college-race.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank"><img id="gmail-m_1322188569257169719gmail-m_-1112597197049309424gmail-m_4171709381444723244gmail-m_7298456214790887084gmail-m_-7714770119474221820gmail-m_-4772805157422943588gmail-m_3272211566330350317gmail-m_-3040775758736118136gmail-m_-6980352015535715581LPThumbnailImageId436267" alt="" height="125" style="display: block;" width="240" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/02/24/us/24SmithCollege1/24SmithCollege1-facebookJumbo-v2.jpg"></a></div>
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<div id="gmail-m_1322188569257169719gmail-m_-1112597197049309424gmail-m_4171709381444723244gmail-m_7298456214790887084gmail-m_-7714770119474221820gmail-m_-4772805157422943588gmail-m_3272211566330350317gmail-m_-3040775758736118136gmail-m_-6980352015535715581LPTitle436267" style="font-size:21px;font-weight:300;margin-right:8px;font-family:wf_segoe-ui_light,"Segoe UI Light","Segoe WP Light","Segoe UI","Segoe WP",Tahoma,Arial,sans-serif;margin-bottom:12px">
<a id="gmail-m_1322188569257169719gmail-m_-1112597197049309424gmail-m_4171709381444723244gmail-m_7298456214790887084gmail-m_-7714770119474221820gmail-m_-4772805157422943588gmail-m_3272211566330350317gmail-m_-3040775758736118136gmail-m_-6980352015535715581LPUrlAnchor436267" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/smith-college-race.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank">Inside a Battle Over Race, Class and
Power at Smith College - The New York Times</a></div>
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Smith College is an elite 145-year-old liberal arts college, where tuition, room and board top $78,000 a year and where the employees who keep the school running often come from working-class ...</div>
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com" target="_blank">www.nytimes.com</a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">Jason Nix</span><br>
<span style="font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">Journalism Program Lead</span><br>
<span style="font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">Faculty Adviser/ </span><span style="font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">The Communicator</span><br>
<a href="http://www.communicatoronline.org" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">www.communicatoronline.org</span></a><span style="font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif"> </span></b></div>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>Anne Brackett</div><div>Chemistry Faculty<br></div>
<div>Everett Community College</div>
<div>pronouns: she/her </div></div></div></div></div></div>