coe-staff: #ShutDownAcademia, #ShutDownStem, tomorrow, Wednesday, June 10th

[Lisa Fortin]

Dear COE Faculty and Staff,
I encourage your participation in #ShutDownAcademia<https://www.shutdownacademia.com/>, #ShutDownStem<https://www.shutdownstem.com/>, tomorrow, Wednesday, June 10th in collaboration with academics from around the country who want to use this time for action. In following this shut down we are making a commitment to education, action, and healing. The call is to stop all usual academic work for the day, but continue to serve our students by replacing seminars, classes, and meetings with discussions about anti-black bias in the world and academia. The strike is meant to be a day of rest for Black academics. They are traumatized and exhausted as the weight of the oppression and violence has been borne by them for centuries and the time is now for this history to change into a future where we call out this violence and we put an end to systemic racism.

The following is a quote from the organizers of the shut down and the rationale behind this call:
Black academic and Black STEM professionals are hurting because they exist in and are attacked by institutional and systemic racism. Black people have been tirelessly working for change, alongside their Indigenous and People of Color allies. For Black academics and STEM professionals, #ShutDownAcademia and #ShutDownSTEM is a time to prioritize their needs-- whether that is to rest, reflect, or to act -- without incurring additional cumulative disadvantage. Those of us who are not Black, particularly those of us who are white, play a key role in perpetuating systemic racism. Direct actions are needed to stop this injustice. Unless you engage directly with eliminating racism, you are perpetuating it. This moment calls for profound and meaningful change. #ShutDownAcademia and #ShutDownSTEM is the time for white and non-Black People of Color (NBPOC) to not only educate themselves, but to define a detailed plan of action to carry forward. Wednesday June 10, 2020 will mark the day that we transition into a lifelong commitment of actions to eradicate anti-Black racism in academia and STEM. We join with members of Particles for Justice in calling for a #Strike4BlackLives.

As Associate Dean of Academic Affairs I urge us to engage in this national action tomorrow. Being called to action is not only  symbolic of our commitment to change, but provides us the time tomorrow to focus on how to bring about that change and to plan action steps toward achieving a greater focus on equity, advancement, and social justice in our college. I am committing to spending the day planning out opportunities for administrative anti-bias and equity training, toward compiling instructional resources focused on equity and justice for faculty to include in coursework across the college, and toward planning a year of professional development activities for faculty on anti-bias, anti-racist education. I also commit to developing a process for a thorough curriculum review in our college to ensure that we are including content in all of our degree programs that lead to professionals with an anti-bias and anti-racist lens so that they can enter their professions as catalysts for change equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to question and challenge the pervasive systems that support structural racism.

As a college we have a history of commitment to social justice. All of our programs are designed to create opportunities for the communities we serve whether through education, counseling, or therapy. We are a college of helpers and doers. Let’s continue with this spirit as we engage in this anti-racist work. I am committed to supporting change and evolution. I began my college career as a Peace Studies major at Antioch College and have a long history of activism and commitment to social change. I urge us all to engage and to be awake at this moment in history that calls for courage, compassion, and action.

Black Lives Matter syllabus
http://www.blacklivesmattersyllabus.com/fall2016/

Black Lives Matter instructional library
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18pOK3roiwPQ9WF7D2wA0o7Ktr8KwAJeZfn-o6O8T__Y/mobilepresent?fbclid=IwAR3O_cBckc0zA1QvYB2VKGXqLH0fYsYhMmPJEN6nps2x9k_phvkh1JjvTq4&slide=id.p

Anti-racist information in Spanish
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DbS6Q9oSfLbShmkNrkTgaDVHGedpYrCI-Pq6RDUcYrY/mobilebasic

Lillian Durán
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
College of Education
Associate Professor
Department of Special Education and Clinical Sciences, College of Education
5261 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
541-346-2502

[COE-3435-CGY11-2]









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