Anti Racism
As an organization founded on educational excellence, opportunity and access, and dedicated to the principles of equity, justice and community, the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) must lead by example, and make structural and permanent change to root out the ill effects of racism and bias from our classrooms and our workplace.
LAVC's Commitment Statement
As our nation confronts the challenges of systemic racism and the status quo of social injustice, LAVC recognizes that by virtue of our position as an institution of higher education and our role in the community, we have the opportunity and the obligation to be an agent of change in addressing these issues. As such, and in response to the uprising and racial reckoning of summer 2020, LAVC commits to being an anti-racist institution and to working towards equity and social change.
We join in the LACCD commitment: "As an organization founded on educational excellence, opportunity and access, and dedicated to the principles of equity, justice and community, the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) must lead by example, and make structural and permanent change to root out the ill effects of racism and bias from our classrooms and our workplace."
Based on the commitments made by both the college and the District, the college has developed a framework to accomplish the following objectives.
- Create a community of shared values of equity and social justice
- Create a welcoming and inclusive campus environment for students, faculty and staff
- Attract and support a diverse student body and workforce
- Actively engage the diverse backgrounds and talents of faculty, staff, and students to encourage inclusivity
- Acknowledge and educate the campus and community about systemic racism and Anti-Blackness
- Communicate an institutional commitment to and efforts to support anti-racism
- Reduce systemic racism through curricular and financial aid interventions
- Identify and eliminate policies and practices that promote systemic racism
- Evaluate and monitor anti-racism and equity efforts with data
Framework Overview
In response the social uprising in the summer of 2020, LAVC facilitated a Call to Action event, recognizing the recent killing of George Floyd, other cases of police brutality, social injustice, systemic racism, and the trauma to Black students, faculty, staff and community. The College recognized the significance of continuing this work and the Anti-Racism Planning Group continued to meet through the summer to discuss issues and develop a framework for action.
The framework is meant to be a comprehensive approach to becoming an anti-racist institution. This work involves students, faculty, staff, and he community. This proposal is a work in progress and is meant to be a living document. It addresses immediate, short-term, and long-term items, at the local and district level. It acknowledges the work of the individual and the institution in changing the status quo and transforming the organizational culture and structure.
The framework includes action items in the following areas:
- Arts and Expression
- Communication, Marketing, and Messaging
- Context, Social, Historical
- Curriculum
- Data
- Financial Aid
- Hiring and Staffing
- Partnerships & Coordination (Community Involvement etc.)
- Policies and Practices
- Professional Development
- Security, Law Enforcement, Student Discipline
- Staff engagement
- Student Engagement
Next Steps
- Information Sharing
- Involvement, Integration
- Resources and prioritization
- Institutionalization
- Intersectionality