On campuses across the country, students, staff and faculty have been engaged in impassioned debate over race, diversity and equity. More than a year ago, University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce launched a Race and Equity Initiative in which she challenged the UW community to confront bias and racism at all levels. Among other actions, the administration has announced increased funds to enhance faculty diversity.
At the School of Public Health, we’ve taken several important steps to improve the climate around race. Chief among them is the addition of a new core curriculum competency calling for all students to be able to “recognize the means by which social inequities and racism, generated by power and privilege, undermine health.”
A new seminar, Racism and Public Health, is now offered for students of all levels and degree programs.
In addition, we held an All-School Forum on Race and Equity in mid-April that drew about 250 people. After the forum, several work groups were formed to address needs such as increasing diversity among students, staff and faculty; developing a training program to build awareness of racism; and creating a center for the critical study of race.
These groups met under the auspices of the SPH Diversity Committee, which was formed in 2012. The Diversity Committee will incorporate these recommendations into a School-wide action plan. In the short term, the School plans to hire an external consultant to help assess ongoing needs around diversity.
“The key now,” says Dean Howard Frumkin, “is to move from talk to action—to refine the key ideas that emerged, and to implement them.”