Dean of Diversity Concerns

February 13, 2013

Dear Jackie Jeffery, Eva Rueschmann, Jonathan Lash, Diana Fernandez, and The Board of Trustees:

We are emailing you as members of the Hampshire College Trans* Policy Committee in response to the President’s February 2013 Report, in which President Lash indicates a desire to work with students, staff, and faculty to “re-examine the scope and definition of the Dean of Diversity position, and the structures and responsibilities that address issues of diversity in the academic program, and more broadly across the Hampshire community.”

After investigating similar positions and offices at the other four colleges, we feel that Amherst College and Mt. Holyoke College have a set of practices around diversity and equity that we would like to see implemented in a similar fashion at Hampshire College. Below we have included excerpts of their statement’s for your consideration (subheadings are hyperlinked to the quoted page for your convenience): Diversity & Equity at Amherst College:

Amherst College has a “Statement on Diversity” that includes a passage that breaks down the three guiding principles of diversity as Respect, Inclusion, and Equity: “As the people who comprise the college community continually change, the environment that the college strives to create rests on a foundation of three values: Respect, Inclusion and Equity. Respect is embodied in many behaviors. Respect begins with mutual understanding, knowing how others wish to be treated. It is thoughtful consideration of others that starts with awareness and leads to an acceptance and valuing of differences. Respect is a mutual regard that honors the values, ideals, beliefs and needs of each person.

Inclusion is also a way of behaving. Inclusion seeks to enable a wider and broader range of people to join in the work of the College. It allows individuals to fully contribute their energies, talents, ideas and passion. Inclusion implies joining together in a positive manner to co-create our work environment.

Equity is a belief that opportunities should be open and accessible to all. Equity assumes that each individual will be provided an equal chance to succeed, to advance, and to be treated as others are treated. It also acknowledges that talented people and groups may have experienced prejudice and disadvantages in the past, and the College will proactively work to address these injustices." (emphasis our own)

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/sites/default/files/deanofcollege/docs/cerriemail_De c5_12_web.pdf

Diversity & Equity at Mt. Holyoke College:

In a letter from December 2012, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of the College, Cerri Banks, described the intent of the new Commission on Diversity and Inclusion as:

“...to act as an accountable body that sees diversity and inclusion as a strategic framework for actively examining and evaluating our institution’s practices and policies and for setting goals with measurable outcomes. It ensures that the work of diversity and inclusion rests in the entire community and not an individual person or department. The Commission integrates the established and ongoing diversity work already happening on campusit does not replace it.” (emphasis our own)

Diversity & Equity at Hampshire College:

As a committee that experienced frustration with the lack of tangible power invested in the former Special Assistant to the President for Diversity position to actually ensure the implementation of the Trans* Policy, we would like to propose our suggestions for the scope and definition of the new Dean of Diversity and Multicultural Education position. By more clearly defining this position, we wish to guarantee that the Dean has the necessary resources and experience to effectively respond to the concerns and grievances of a wide range of community members who are affected by issues of diversity and inclusion. While we can only speak from our own experience as a committee that is directly affected by this, we wish to provide a general system which can benefit and support all voices on campus to ensure equity in all facets of the College’s community.

The Dean of Diversity & Multicultural Education must be a full-time, paid position, part of the “Monday Group,” report directly to the President, have an operating budget, and also have the authority to guarantee equity and inclusion in both the academic and non-academic sectors of the college. This means ensuring equal access to education, housing, social and academic community programming, and all other resources offered to the community at large by the College. We would like a national search for candidates who possess minimally a master’s degree and at least five years of relevant experience in diversity work. Relevant experience must include demonstrated social justice leadership work (whether in a non-profit, as a community activist, or in other situations deemed comparable by the search committee) committed to ending multiple systems of oppression, which may include: racism, classism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, ageism, ethnocentrism, sexism, and religious discrimination. Preferred qualifications would include this type of work within higher education specifically and potentially a PhD in a relevant field. We do not wish to exclude any applicant simply because they have not done this work in higher education, as the skillsets required can be gained from working outside of academia.

The search committee must be comprised of students, staff, and faculty who also demonstrate a commitment to the above issues. The committee should include a representative from the President’s office and/or the Dean of Faculty’s office, from Community Advocacy and a “Feminist Faculty” member. The interviews of these candidates must take place during the academic year while students are still on campus and have a reasonable ability to attend them.

In addition, we feel it is necessary to develop a more concrete articulation of what a “commitment to diversity” means in the context of this position. The Diversity positions at Smith College, Amherst College and Mt. Holyoke College actively engage with multiple other offices and staff members on their respective campuses, and we would like to see a similar commitment to dialoguing and collaborating with a wide range of campus resources to ensure that the College’s commitment to diversity and inclusion actively engages every aspect of social and academic life.

While the President’s letter speaks of “every form of diversity within our student, faculty and staff communities, not only diversity of race, ethnicity, and culture, but also gender identification, sexual orientation, disability, experience, and outlook,” we feel the language is so general that it ends up meaning nothing. Often when students wish to discuss issues concerning diversity and equity, they are sent to multiple offices and/or deans and thus no one has the consolidated power to simply address their concerns head-on. Additionally, many of these offices are not in conversation with each other as how to appropriately respond to such grievances. We wish to promote a more efficient structural model that will better serve the community. All campus policies must be reviewed so that they equitably meet the needs of all diverse populations and include specific repercussions for staff, faculty and students who fail to meet these policies’ standards. The Dean of Diversity & Multicultural Education must have the power and authority to oversee these policies as well as implement and update them as need be in collaboration with the campus community.

We appreciate your effort to include the community in the re-examination of this position and we expect to hear more from you as this search progresses as to how community members will be further involved in this process.

Sincerely,

The Trans* Policy Committee: Katie Huppert Devin Suozzi-Rearic Zemora Tevah Gaines Blasdel Emily Rimmer

QIPOC: Jesse Graves Devyn Manibo Omnia Hamdan Omar Villar Ari Burton

Xavier A. Torres de Janon (F12, Student worker for The Cultural Center) Adam Ortiz (Dakin House Director)