EXPERIENCE
ACCOUNTABILITY AND ACTION Reflecting on OSU’s Antiracist Strategies
WRITER: SUKHJOT SAL PHOTOGRAPHERS: JESS HUME-PANTUSO, JOSH SWANCUTT The past year has been one of national reckoning; from the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd, to increased coverage of Black Lives Matter, keeping their mission to eliminate systemic and institutional racism in the media spotlight. But as with all important movements, change starts at the local level—in our neighborhoods, cities and within Oregon State University, which comprises innumerable, overlapping systems within the institution itself. Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Charlene Alexander is responsible for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives for OSU, specifically the implementation of OSU’s first Diversity Strategic Plan. The Diversity Strategic Plan, which launched in 2018 as a five-year plan to end in 2023, affirms the university’s dedication to diversity and inclusion, and ensures that diversity is an integral part of the OSU identity. According to Alexander, over the last academic year, various notable antiracist initiatives were implemented and several more are in the works. “On Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, thenPresident King Alexander announced the steps the university is undertaking to move the university forward and undertake actions
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in response to calls from members of our community,” Alexander said in an email. “Those actions are outlined on the Moving Forward Together website.” The actions are organized in eight distinct areas: staff and faculty, public safety, immigration-international studentsDREAMERS, teaching and learning, student services, leadership, university relations and marketing, and bias response. “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts occur by several units across campus and we will celebrate those efforts during our State of Diversity Address later this spring,” Alexander said. First-year environmental sciences student Zoë Bishop is a rower on OSU’s Women’s Rowing team. “In my opinion, for an initiative to be antiracist, I believe it should be a message that emphasizes the importance of education in inclusivity,” Bishop said. Spreading the meaning of inclusivity and equality help to improve people’s understanding of what the term ‘antiracism’ really means, she explained. “Since I am a student-athlete here at OSU, the most active anti-racist initiative I’ve been aware of is DAM Change,” Bishop said. PICTURED: ZOË BISHOP
