“ The first priority has been a focus on better communication. “Our students and alumni have stories to share about their experiences,” said President Troy Hammond. “I want to ensure that these stories inform and affect our actions moving forward.” President Hammond has outlined a list of listening sessions with Black students, faculty and staff, and a campus-wide climate study. In June, Hammond participated in a virtual campus town hall on racial issues affecting the College and Naperville. “We have tried to do good work along this journey, but we have made mistakes,” said Hammond. “I learned from listening to our students and alumni that there is still much more to be done before we begin to resemble our vision of a diverse and inclusive community.” Listening to students is an important part of making progress, agreed Davin Allen ’20/M ’22, graduate assistant for first generation programs. “I believe the last two years have been critical for change on our campus,” he said. “Our students will no longer accept the bare minimum effort to support minority students. Our focus moving forward should always be to listen to the students. We must be willing to hear them in whatever form that takes and begin to formulate intentional actions that work best not to solve these problems temporarily, but consistently.”
Our focus moving forward should always be to listen to the students.” DAVIN ALLEN ’20/M ’22
Allen recently joined the College’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force, which is well-established on campus and provides leadership for many campus initiatives. The task force helped respond to calls for change from alumni and students this summer and led efforts to build a resource on the Oesterle Library website called the Black Lives Matter Lib Guide in collaboration with the Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence and Oesterle Library. The task force is co-chaired by Dorothy Pleas, assistant dean of students and director of multicultural affairs, and Stephen Maynard Caliendo, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and supported by Rebecca Gordon, assistant vice president of equity, diversity and inclusion. Going forward into 2020-2021, all College students will participate in two diversity and equity workshops each semester—up from one last year. Faith and Action programs will focus on antiracism and activism themes. Project Re-Connect: NCC Movie and Dialogue Club will continue to invite students, faculty and staff to explore racial themes (see p. 17) and new dialogue training resources are available through the Center for Social Impact and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
“As a predominantly white campus, marginalized students are often underrepresented in campus programs and leadership positions,” said Milia Harris ’20/M ’22, who is a graduate assistant in the Center for Social Impact. “My priority is to make sure the minority identities become exponentially represented in these opportunities moving forward.” Additional commitments to progress include holding faculty and staff hiring managers accountable for efforts to recruit and retain people of color and requiring regular reporting of student retention data by race.
“
My priority is to make sure the minority identities become exponentially represented in these opportunities moving forward.” MILIA HARRIS ’20/M ’22
Fall 2020 northcentralcollege.edu/magazine
11
