With the rising awareness over the last year of pervasive racial injustice and inequities, I, like many other Americans, took a hard look at my position in society and my voice in furthering goals of diversity in the organizations I serve. As a result, many avenues have emerged for learning and participating in discussions around equity and inclusion. For me, one outcome has been the realization that achieving a diverse environment is only a starting point, a first step toward eliminating structural barriers to equal treatment and opportunity to create a truly inclusive environment with equity at the core. This personal exploration is mirrored by the discussions occurring at many colleges and universities, which are now asking: Where, exactly, are we in our journey to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion?
This inquiry is not just about an institution’s statistical status or progress. It calls for a deeper exploration of values and an examination of an institution’s commitment to creating an environment where all people of different races, ethnicities, and backgrounds fully participate, have a sense of belonging, and have a voice. For this exploration to be truly effective, all campus constituents—including the board of trustees as the governing body—must be involved as full-fledged participants.
It is perhaps easy to view the role of trustees as being purely supportive, to green-light good ideas and initiatives. But our responsibility is larger than that. It’s to engage fully, as individuals and as an entity, in the collective effort to bring about greater equity in our institutions.
In 2019, the Agnes Scott College Board of Trustees ratified the president’s appointment of Yves-Rose Porcena as the college’s first vice president for equity and inclusion, a cabinet-level position. Within a year and under Porcena’s leadership, the college’s Gay Johnson McDougall Center for Global Diversity and Inclusion rolled out the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan for the 2020–2021 school year—aptly named JEDI, as it reflected a mind-set as much as a blueprint for progress.
This was no small thing. The JEDI plan advances a culture of antiracism and cultivates a climate in which everyone— students and employees—feel inspired, included, and supported. Importantly, the JEDI plan provides opportunities and support for all students to be engaged in all dimensions of JEDI work, including but not limited to race, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic status, and religion.
While proud of this endeavor, our trustees recognize it as one of many mileposts in a larger journey—a point that was driven home last year, when Americans took to the streets to protest injustice and racism in our nation.
In the summer, our board saw the need to take a closer look at our own demonstrations of diversity and inclusion. In addition to receiving diversity training in October (an activity we schedule every few years), a team of trustees developed an official statement from the board in support of the college’s mission and efforts to create a humanistic, antiracist, and inclusive culture. In doing so, the board started from the principle that it must engage in the real work of the college. A symbolic statement not tied to action would not serve the board or the college well. As a result, a key part of our statement affirms our commitment to:
- Ensuring that the development of the trustee candidate pipeline, and the selection and orientation of new trustees, are all informed by antiracist values, standards, and education;
- Ensuring that the board’s work and decisions support the college’s justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion agenda;
- Holding regular conversations, training, and learning about antiracism actions; and
- Providing a progress report at the end of the year.
These tenets were embraced to make our statement more substance than symbolism. Together, they better prepare us to integrate diversity and inclusion into every decision we make as a governing body as well as consider the ramifications of all board decisions on Agnes Scott’s JEDI goals.
For other college and university trustees working on this issue, I offer three considerations:
- Make an honest assessment of where your board and campus are in the journey to greater diversity, equity, and inclusion. Such an assessment is a foundation for goal setting and action priorities. For example, we had to confront the fact that while we have a very diverse student body, with 63.2 percent of our undergraduates identifying as students of color, we have an underrepresentation of people of color and other marginalized communities in the makeup of our board.
- Avoid addressing these issues in a vacuum. It’s essential to act in concert with campus leaders and the community’s broader efforts. Our renewed commitment is an extension of the college’s mission, not a separate or unrelated effort.
- Emphasize action and accountability. By including a reporting element, our trustees built in a way to hold ourselves Periodic reviews also help us keep on track, and whenever we come up short, we will redouble efforts or reevaluate strategies.
One of the greatest lessons of 2020 is the reminder that moving toward greater social justice is not the purview of a single group, team, or collective. We all have a role to play and a responsibility to fulfill.
Elizabeth Hardy Noe is the board chair of the Agnes Scott College Board of Trustees.
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