New series launches with conversation on bringing anti-racism training to campus
Members of the St. Olaf College community gathered virtually on Friday, October 9, for a conversation on Bringing Anti-Racism Training up the Hill — the first in a new series of Zoom discussions called Voices of Equity on the Hill.
St. Olaf Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Bruce King hosted and facilitated the Zoom discussion with Strategic Diversity Initiatives President Anne Phibbs, Associate Professor of Statistics and Education Sharon Lane-Getaz, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Multicultural Recruitment Gabby Gillespie, and Associate Professor of Psychology Jeremy Loebach.
Phibbs, who has provided training on microaggressions and implicit bias for the St. Olaf community, discussed the goals and processes of anti-racist training — and the importance of ongoing anti-racist education — for college communities.
Lane-Getaz and Gillespie, the new co-chairs of the St. Olaf BIPOC Affinity Group, shared the needs BIPOC faculty and staff have expressed for training and professional development for both themselves and their white peers and colleagues. They noted the importance of having action-oriented, discussion-based anti-racist training on campus that focuses on conversation, reflection, assessment, and follow-up conversation.
Loebach, a member of the St. Olaf Council on Equity and Inclusion and a liaison on the Task Force to Confront Structural Racism at St. Olaf, offered insight on the Academics for Black Survival and Wellness workshops he attended this summer.
Community members submitted questions during the event, and several asked what anti-racist readings and resources the panelists recommended. Their suggestions included:
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and other works by Beverly Daniel Tatum
- “1619,” a podcast from The New York Times
- The “Scene on Radio” podcast’s Season 2 on Seeing White
- How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
- Me And White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- “Who We Are,” a podcast that chronicles racism in America
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- Academics for Black Survival and Wellness
- Council on Equity and Inclusion
- Task Force to Confront Structural Racism at St. Olaf
Stayed tuned for information on the next Voices of Equity on the Hill conversation.