Ethos List of Demands to the Wellesley College Administration

December 8, 2015

President Bottomly, Provost Shennan, Dean Wolfson, and Dean St. John:

Below are a set of demands we believe the college should implement most expeditiously to ensure a ​ more inclusive social climate and greater commitment to representation of people of African descent at​ Wellesley College.

1. We demand that Wellesley College hire more faculty of African descent. We specifically request: a. Four additional professors (one in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and STEM departments) at the rate of one per year beginning in the 2017­2018 academic year. b. Each of the aforementioned professors mentioned in Demand 1a be employed in a department outside of the Africana Studies Department. c. The employment of a history professor in the Africana Studies Department by the 2016­2017 academic year.

2. We demand that Wellesley College, particularly the Office of Admissions, collaborate with students, faculty, and staff of African descent to create and implement an initiative aimed towards creating higher enrollment rates of applicants of African descent. The goal of the initiative should be to: a. Increase the number of students of African descent enrolled at Wellesley to 10 percent by the 2018­2019 academic year. b. Increase the population of African descent to 12 percent, double the current percentage of students of African descent enrolled in the College, by the 2019­2020 academic year. c. Maintain a 12 percent representation of students of African descent after the 2019­2020 academic year.

3. We demand that the Commission on Ethnicity, Race, and Equity (CERE) be more transparent with the student body, particularly student cultural organizations. We specifically request: a. A monthly report summarizing the work done by CERE be released to the student body at the end of each calendar month that classes are in session. b. A monthly meeting between members of the Harambee House and the student representatives on the Commission that serves to establish a strong connection between the Commission and the Harambee House constituency.

c. A list designating the specific goals of CERE be published to College Announcements no later than Monday, January 25, 2016, the first day of classes for the spring semester. d. A designated timeline for the completion of each goal that CERE wishes to fulfill be included in addition to the list of goals mentioned in Demand 3c.

4. We demand that a student of African descent be included on CERE. We specifically request: a. The presence of at least one student representative of African descent on the Commission who is an active member of Harambee House through 1) membership in at least one of the Harambee House organizations and/or 2) holding a position on Harambee House Staff. We ask that this student be added to the Commission no later than Monday, January 25, 2016, the first day of classes for the spring semester.

5. We demand that the College admit more international students from Africa and the Caribbean. We specifically request: a. Wellesley have its own concerted efforts to recruit students from Africa beyond the Mastercard initiative by the beginning of the 2016­2017 academic year. b. Wellesley increase the number of students from Africa and the Caribbean from 8% of the total international students population to 15% by the 2019­2020 academic year. c. A comprehensive detailing of Wellesley’s admissions and recruitment procedures in Africa and the Caribbean by Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

6. We demand that Wellesley College conduct a required sensitivity training for all members of the Wellesley College student body, faculty, and staff, including employees of the Stone Center and Residential Life, each academic year. We specifically request that: a. A racial and ethnic sensitivity curriculum be created no later than the end of the 2015­2016 academic year. b. Each department meet after undergoing the training to reflect upon and consider how the training can be applied to the specific concerns and needs of the students in their departments once the sensitivity curriculum has been implemented in the 2016­2017 academic year. c. A racial and ethnic sensitivity curriculum be implemented into the Entering Student Checklist, which can be found on the MyWellesley portal, and required of all entering students by the 2016­2017 academic year.

7. We demand that the administration institute a measure of accountability in regard to racial insensitivity for faculty members before the start of the 2016­2017 academic year.

8. We demand that an additional mental health professional of African descent be employed by the Stone Center, who specializes in the care of women of African descent, including students who identify along the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, and who solely serves as a counselor to the student body.

9. We demand that Wellesley College hire a full­time administrative assistant for Dr. Tracey Cameron by the 2017­2018 academic year.

Justifications for Demands

1. Currently, Wellesley College’s Faculty Diversity page on the official Wellesley College website is blank.1 After tediously looking through every Wellesley College Department site, we discovered that there are ​ twelve​ professors of African descent who are tenured or 2 are on track to receiving tenure of the 362 full­ and part­time faculty members of the College.3 They represent 3.3% of the Wellesley College faculty. We find this despicable.

It is vital that Wellesley hire more faculty of African descent, seeing that the percentage of tenured Professors of African descent and Professors of African descent on track to receive tenure falls far below the percentage of students of African descent at Wellesley.

It is important that Wellesley hire a History professor for the Africana Studies Department to ensure that all students, particularly students of African descent and majoring or minoring in Africana Studies, be offered courses that specifically address the history of the African diaspora. We also feel that it is critical that Wellesley hire faculty of African descent outside of the Africana Studies department, particularly in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and especially STEM departments. People of African descent have been historically underrepresented in STEM fields4 and it is important for students of African descent to see faculty represented in their classes. To date, there are no faculty

Wellesley College, “Faculty Diversity,” <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/provost/prospectivefac/diversity​ > (14 November 2015).

2 Wellesley College, “Departments, Majors, and Programs,” <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/academics/deptsmajorprog​ > (17 November 2015).

3 Wellesley College, “Related,” <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/academics/faculty/academicsfacultysidebar/node/4848​ > (7 December 2015).

4 Liana Christin Landivar, 2013, “Disparities in STEM Employment by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin,” American Community Survey Reports, ACS­24, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC. 1

of African descent listed on the department websites of the Biological Sciences,5 Chemistry,6 Mathematics,7 Neuroscience,8 Computer Science,9 Geosciences,10 or Astronomy departments.11

2. As of Sunday, November 15, 2015, 5.76% (125/2172) of the campus body is comprised of students of African descent. According to the Common Data Sets released from the 2006­2007 to the 2014­2015 academic year, the percentage of students of African descent has stagnated around 6%. 12 We feel that this percentage is far too small as it falls significantly below the 13.2% representation of people of African descent living in the United States as of September 30, 2015.13 We recognize that the small percentage of students of African descent is not an issue of the Office of Admissions alone, but of a larger issue regarding the retention of the students of African descent recruited.

3. As of Sunday, November 15, 2015, members of the Wellesley College community have received two emails in regards to the goals of the Commission on Ethnicity, Race, and Equity. The first was released on January 28, 2015 14 and the second on April 1, 2015.15 Neither of these emails offered any definitive dates for the execution of tasks by the Commission or desired deadlines for Commission research and findings. It is absolutely 5

Wellesley College, “Faculty,” <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/biology/faculty​ > (7 December 2015).

Wellesley College, “Faculty and Staff,” <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/chemistry/facultystaff​ > (7 December 2015).

7 Wellesley College, “Faculty & Staff,” <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/math/faculty​ > (7 December 2015).

8 Wellesley College, “Faculty & Staff,” <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/neuroscience/faculty​ > (7 December 2015).

9 Wellesley College, “Faculty,” <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/cs/faculty​ > (7 December 2015).

10 Wellesley College, “Faculty & Staff,” <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/geosciences/faculty​ > (7 December 2015).

11 Wellesley College, “Faculty & Staff,” <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/astronomy/facultystaff​ > (7 December 2015).

12 Wellesley College, “Common Data Set,” <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/oir/instdata​ > (14 November 2015).

13 United States Census Bureau, “State and County Quick Facts,” September 30, 2015, <​ http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html​ > (17 November 2015).

14 H. Kim Bottomly, “Commission on Race, Ethnicity, and Equity,” 28 January 2015, <​ https://www.wellesley.edu/about/president/connect/commission­on­ethnicity­race­and­equity​ > (15 November 2015).

15 H. Kim Bottomly, “Presidential Commision on Race, Ethnicity, and Equity,” April 1, 2015, <​ https://blogs.wellesley.edu/announcements/page/4/​ > (16 November 2015).

6

necessary that the College concretely define the goals of CERE while also establishing deadlines to complete aforementioned goals in order that members of the Wellesley College community, particularly communities of color, be ensured that the Commission is addressing its goals in a timely manner.

4. As of Monday, December 7, 2015, there are two students of color on the Commission on Ethnicity, Race, and Equity, neither of whom are of African descent. Members of the Harambee House, as a collective, have not been informed as to the proceedings of CERE. Subsequently, we request a student of African descent be included on the Commission in order that said student serve as liaison between CERE and members of the Harambee House. While our requirement that the student be actively involved in Harambee House may seem to exclude certain students of African descent, we believe that it is only through active involvement in Harambee House that a student of African descent can best serve as a liaison between Harambee House organizations and CERE. Additionally, in a Wellesley News interview with ​ the two student representatives on CERE, Wellesley News stated “the current student representatives emphasize that they serve as the voice of the entire student body and that student experiences are important to the Commission.”16 We, students of African descent at Wellesley College, want to be represented by someone who identifies as a person of African descent and can relate to us as a result of our shared identity.

5. Currently, 25 of the 288 enrolled international students are from the Caribbean and Africa.17 Two of those students are Caribbean and 23 are African. An increase in the admission of students from the continent of Africa and the Caribbean would further enrich the cultural diversity of the student body. ​ Current students from the Caribbean do not recall Wellesley recruiters coming to their schools to recruit them. Instead, the Caribbean students currently enrolled at Wellesley College found all information about the College solely by means of their own concerted efforts.​ We believe it most necessary that Wellesley make a concerted effort to recruit Africans and Caribbeans at various high schools representing various socioeconomic backgrounds in order to ensure that Wellesley upholds its commitment to diversity.

16

The Wellesley News, “Commission on Race, Ethnicity, and Equity (CREE) Forms Foundation for Coming Year,” April 30, 2015, <​ http://thewellesleynews.com/2015/04/30/commission­on­race­ethnicity­and­equity­cree­forms­foundation­fo r­coming­year/​ > (20 November 2015).

17 Wellesley College Slater International Center, “International Student Statistics ­ Fall 2015,” November 2015, <​ http://www.wellesley.edu/sites/default/files/assets/departments/slater/files/informational/general/internation al_student_stats_fall_2015.pdf​ > (14 November 2015).

6. In an email sent on April 1, 2015 to the student body, President Bottomly mentioned that a potential goal of CERE was “​ improving the ability of our community to recognize and 18 address institutional racism.” In light of students' expressed concerns about faculty members tolerating racist remarks in classrooms and making racist comments themselves, we believe it most imperative that the college set up a curriculum addressing racism and ethnic and cultural sensitivity for all members of the Wellesley College community. This training should take place, minimally, on an annual basis and should be required for all members of the Wellesley College faculty, staff, and student body.

7. A reporting system for students to report instances in which they have felt targeted by racism should be implemented to bolster CERE’s goal to “​ focus on improving the ability of our community to recognize and address institutional racism.”19 ​ We demand that students of African descent be included in designing this system. The system will allow for students to confidentially and/or anonymously report inappropriate conduct of their teachers, and only identify the reporting student with the student’s consent. “Bias Reporting Systems” have been proven beneficial at a number of colleges, including Georgetown, Washington University in St. Louis, Cornell, Case Western, Marquette, Loyola University (Maryland), BU, Loyola Chicago, and the University of Virginia.

8. We are fully aware that the Stone Center exists as an on­campus resource for students seeking to better their mental and spiritual health; however, the only full­time psychiatrist of African descent, Dr. Robin Cook­Nobles, serves as Director of the Counseling Service, Dean of the Office of Intercultural Education, and counselor to the student body. As a result, her ability to be available to students, particularly those of African descent, is very limited. We ask that an additional mental health professional of African descent specializing in the care of women of African descent, including students who identify along the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, be added to the Stone Center’s staff roster in order that students of African descent on­campus are able to receive treatment from someone who can identify with how race and culture may affect their mental health.

9. Dr. Tracey Cameron serves as Assistant Dean of Intercultural Education, Director of the Harambee House, and Advisor to Students of African Descent. It is absolutely vital that Dr. Cameron, in her multiple roles, be provided with an administrative assistant to assist 18

H. Kim Bottomly, “Presidential Commision on Race, Ethnicity, and Equity,” April 1, 2015, <​ https://blogs.wellesley.edu/announcements/page/4/​ > (16 November 2015).

19 H. Kim Bottomly, “Presidential Commision on Race, Ethnicity, and Equity,” April 1, 2015, <​ https://blogs.wellesley.edu/announcements/page/4/​ > (16 November 2015).

her in handling smaller tasks, like space requests. This administrative assistant should be of African descent in order that he or she represent the Harambee House constituency.

The presence of an administrative assistant would allow Dr. Cameron to extend the reach of her meaningful work while lessening her work load.

We request a response to these demands by or before 5 pm on Friday, December 18, 2015.

Sincerely,

Ethos BlackOUT Black Women’s Ministry Wellesley African Students’ Association (WASA) Wellesley for Caribbean Development (WCD) Wellesley Minority Association of Premedical Students (MAPS)