Charge for Racial Equity & Inclusion

Our Charge

Grand Valley State University acknowledges the hurt, anger, fear, and distrust that many of our Black faculty, staff, students, and administrators must feel following the reprehensible killing of George Floyd and the ongoing racial and social injustice that exists in our society.

We also acknowledge that the well-being of our entire community rests on fulfilling the elemental promise that every member of our campus community is welcomed, supported, respected, and valued. As an institution that educates the next generation of leaders, we will fail them, our communities, and ourselves if we do not act when we know that more than words are expected of us.

Learn. Understand. Act. Lead. The following are some of the ways Grand Valley will realize those standards against which we must be measured.

Message from President Philomena V. Mantella

We must elevate the voices and experiences of our Black faculty, staff, and students.
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We must listen carefully, valuing each member of our community.
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We must fulfill our goals for inclusion and equity.
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We must all deepen our understanding and knowledge through education.
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We must then use this knowledge as the basis for understanding and addressing institutional and systemic racism and oppression to make meaningful change.

Refocus & Repositioning (April 2021)

While several of the 15-point plan charges have been completed or are underway, the Network of Advisors has provided feedback that a restructuring of the work should be part of our next phase, including a refinement, and in some areas, expansion of the original charges. Phase 2 will focus on four Commitment Areas, with each Commitment Area overseen by one or more executive officers and led by teams and sub-teams comprised of subject-matter experts. Each team has been asked to:

As it is helpful, inventory and capture other university efforts for coordination within area.
Identify 3-5 recommendations within the area by June 30, 2021, which may include:
- Identify problems and/or opportunities and feasible solutions.
- Draft recommendations that advance problems and/or opportunities.
- Draft proposals for prototypes or initiatives (these can be brief and high-level or can be done in the next phase of work or assigned to specific offices as part of recommendations).
- Rank proposals in priority order, associate a timetable, and identify resourcing needed.
Review and refine initial high-level goal(s) for each area; further develop goal(s), establish benchmark, metrics, and timeline (yearly or twice-yearly to Summer 2025). These can be high-level or detailed and offer areas for consideration.

Later in summer 2021, the Network will identify additional commitment areas and/or continue further work in these areas.

Anti-Racism Resources

Education Resources

Educate Yourself About Anti-Racism & White Privilege

GVSU Social Justice Education
Anti-Racism, White Consciousness Workshops (Summer virtual options available in Sprout)
Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies (for curricular options)
Anti-Racism Resources
75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
Performative Allyship Is Deadly (Here’s What to Do Instead)
What it really means to be an anti-racist, and why it's not the same as being an ally
Institutionalized Racism: A Syllabus
Justice in June (a starting place to becoming better allies)

Educate Yourself About History

How Minneapolis, One of America’s Most Liberal Cities, Struggles With Racism (NYT)
Facing racism: The lasting effects of discrimination in GR's southeast community (RapidGrowth)
A City within a City: The Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan (Todd E. Robinson) - also available in the I&E library in 4035 JHZ (email inclusion@gvsu.edu)
African Americans in the Furniture City: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Grand Rapids (Randal Jelks) - also available in the I&E library in 4035 JHZ (email inclusion@gvsu.edu)

Videos & Training

Racial Equity Tools

More to Read:

Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates
White Fragility - Robin diangelo
Sister Outsider - Audre Lorde
How to be an Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi
The Fire Next Time - James Baldwin
Just Mercy : A Story of Justice and Redemption - Bryan Stevenson
A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story - Elaine brown
Policing the Planet - Jordan T. Camp, Christian Heatherton
So You Want to Talk about Race - Ijeoma Oluo
The Hate U Give - Angie Johnson (young adult fiction)
Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-based Stress and Trauma by Dr. Gail Parker
Healing Racial Trauma: The Road to Resilience by Sheila Wise Rowe

More to Watch:

Just Mercy - Destin Daniel Cretton (free on Youtube for the month of June!)
13th - Ava Duvernay
When They See Us - Ava Duvernay
The Black Power Mixtape - Gõran Olsson
The Black Panthers - Stanley Nelson
The Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson - David France
If Beale Street Could Talk - Barry Jenkins
The Hate U Give - George Tillman Jr