Psychology Dept. Racial Equity and Inclusion Statement
We, the members of the Psychology Department, watched in horror as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many other Black people were killed, hurt, and discriminated against by police this year. We have watched with disgust the many incidents of racism perpetrated against people of color, both across the country and right here at Santa Clara University. And we have also seen, and been inspired by, the marches and protests against racism and injustice, often led by young people, that have unfolded over the summer.
We are concerned about all marginalized students, but in these historic times we specifically want to assert our awareness of the deeply rooted racism in our country and its effects on our students of color. We welcome the growing national recognition of systemic racism and the need to make structural changes to address racist systems. We are committed to making changes in our Department and beyond. As a Department, we have met over the summer to discuss specific ways to make these changes with the initial goal of benefitting our students.
Here are examples of some of the things we are doing in the Department:
- Increasing the diversity of the curricula to include more examples of contributions from a variety of perspectives
- Seeking opportunities to hire new BIPOC faculty members
- Participating in workshops and/or other forms of professional development to increase our awareness of diversity and inclusion issues and strategies
- Engaging in efforts to learn about and understand student diversity, backgrounds, and specific needs in the classroom
- Adopting teaching strategies that have been shown to reduce marginalizing or minoritizing experiences of students and being accountable for implementing these strategies in our classes
- Analyzing assessments and other course materials for potential bias that may disadvantage certain students based on their group membership
- Tolerating the discomfort of not doing these things perfectly and being willing to be called out