A Message from the President of Mills College By Elizabeth L. Hillman
A
S MILLS COLLEGE prepares to
tion that have held back many, including
join
University
our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of
(read more starting on the
color) students, LGBTQIA+ students, and
opposite page) we’re moving at a fast
students with disabilities. Mills has long
pace and with high intensity, commit-
considered social justice a core institu-
ted to serving our students and com-
tional mission, and the persistent impact
munity with care and excellence as we
of anti-Black racism led the board to pri-
transform. We’re also committed to pre-
oritize a greater understanding of how
serving the College’s core values during
discrimination has affected learning.
Northeastern
the transition and beyond, including our
During the 2020–21 academic year, the
commitment to equity and access for
board’s Antiracism Working Group met
those underserved by other institutions
16 times. Led by trustee Deborah Wood
of higher education.
’75, the working group helped the board
To give you a sense of why I believe
understand and appreciate multiple per-
we’ll be able to bring Mills’ values with
spectives on the experience of racism at
us into the transition ahead, I want to
Mills, its history, and efforts to address
describe how the Board of Trustees of
it. The working group heard “both pain-
Mills College—and our entire commu-
ful experiences and inspiring advocacy”
nity—embraced antiracism during a year
as it developed “a deeper appreciation for
in which we faced extraordinary chal-
the complexity of these issues on Mills’
and career development to historically
lenge from within, as our own alumnae
campus and in other college and uni-
marginalized racial and ethnic commu-
association sued us, and without, as the
versity campuses and learning environ-
nities, women, and gender nonbinary
global pandemic continued and Mills’ fis-
ments.” Trustees engaged in small group
individuals. Mills College will continue
cal crisis deepened.
conversations, heard from equity scholars
to support LGBTQIA+ students through
In 2020 and 2021, trustees at Mills
and advocates—such as Mills’ own Wendi
the Mills Institute and across our cam-
launched a concerted effort to begin to
Williams, dean of the Mills College School
pus. Already, Northeastern’s publications
address the crisis of racism with a collab-
of Education; Denise Herd of the Othering
are expanding awareness of our faculty’s
orative, multifaceted effort. Through an
and Belonging Institute at the University
scholarship in queer studies and more; a
Antiracism Working Group that formed in
of California, Berkeley; and Brenda Allen,
much-clicked-on Northeastern story fea-
the wake of the murder of George Floyd
president of Lincoln University—as they
tured Mance in an interview about the new
on May 25, 2020, and the global demon-
completed a six-month syllabus. Trustees
bisexual Superman. We’re excited to have
strations for racial equity and justice that
also heard from many Mills stakehold-
Northeastern’s media team sharing ideas
followed, the Board of Trustees articu-
ers, including members of the Latinx Task
and insight from Mills College, to bring
lated a new commitment to antiracism
Force; Black Faculty and Staff Association;
programs like Barbara Lee Distinguished
in October 2020, launched an education
Black Student Collective; AAMC Alumnae
Chair in Women’s Leadership Susan
and training program for trustees about
of Color Committee; Asian Pacific Islander
Stryker’s trans studies series—streamed
systemic racism that took place from
Students
Asian/
and archived at Mills Performing Arts—
January to June 2021, and reported on the
Middle Eastern/Asian Pacific Islanders;
to Northeastern, and to launch new pro-
board’s and College’s antiracism efforts
Indigenous Women’s Alliance; the Race,
grams that reflect the College’s values
in October 2021. With Mills’ new merger
Gender and Sexuality Studies and Ethnic
such as the Leading Social Change spring
with Northeastern, those efforts continue.
Studies
semester for Northeastern students that
Our commitment to antiracism will be
Antiracism Team; White Accountability
at the center of both the Mills Institute,
Group; and staff, including the special
Recognizing the value that every per-
described further by Ajuan Mance and
assistant to the president for equity and
son brings to the Mills community—and
Marilyn Schuster on page 6, and Mills
inclusion and team leaders in the Division
creating opportunities for every learner to
College at Northeastern University.
of Student Life and Provost’s Office.
excel and thrive—are goals that will con-
Alliance;
Southeast
Departments;
Intersectional
will begin in January at Mills.
The College’s history is marked by both
Our board and College leadership are
tinue to require reflection, commitment,
courageous pursuit of equity and opportu-
committed to making social justice and
and ingenuity. In Northeastern, Mills has
nity and a failure to overcome the harms
antiracism key tenets of the Mills Institute,
found a partner that can help us realize
of racism and other forms of discrimina-
which will bring transformative pedagogy
those lofty goals long into the future.
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M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY
