In pursuit of anti-racism on the Elizabethtown College campus and in the community as a whole, Coalition for Anti-Racist Education (CARE) has been established. According to an email sent by the College, CARE is defined as “a group of dedicated employees and students who strive to create a thriving community where all faculty, staff, and students have a deep sense of belonging and pride in a shared commitment to actively dismantling systems of oppression and celebrate the voices and unique experiences of individuals of color.” With the establishment of this coalition, white supremacy and its detrimental effects on the education of people of color and their white counterparts will be gradually dismantled.
CARE has been established under the direction of associate professor of education and interim director of the Center for Global Understanding and Peacebuilding (CGUP) Dr. Shannon Haley-Mize. There are several other faculty members involved in the coalition; students are involved on all levels, including the steering committee. Haley-Mize is committed to the mission of anti-racism and plans to enact major changes as chair of CARE. All of those involved in CARE believe in talk-to-action change, explicit language of diversity and racism and ushering truth-seeking into Etown. For example, language that glosses over issues and protects those who are not committed to anti-racism will be terminated on our campus due to CARE.
CARE will affect the student population at Etown, as well as faculty and staff, by improving the campus experience for all. The coalition is interested in how white supremacy pervades Etown and will utilize this knowledge to slowly break down this institution of racism in hopes of rebuilding the College for the better. The status quo will be challenged and equity and belonging will be bolstered. All members of the community will feel the effects, as the voices and experiences of people of color will be honored and respected, both in and out of the classroom.
In order to implement anti-racist education into Etown, the plan is to build capacity as of now, considering that CARE is fundamentally a grassroots coalition. The approach will get actively-teaching faculty involved in conjunction with students who are living the experience. Educationally speaking, anti-racism will be put into practice through curricular change; the primary goal of the coalition lies in altering/enhancing curricula.
Interested students can get involved in care by attending meetings, which are scheduled to be held once or twice a semester. Students can also join as general members and get on the mailing list for CARE, which will provide information that is self-reflective and tools that can be used to dismantle racism. As a primarily white-populated campus, students will be made to understand themselves and their own privilege through CARE involvement.
CARE’s mission to dismantle racism on our campus that is more prevalent now than ever, considering the hostile political environment and the white majority at Etown. Some students agree with this sentiment and hope to see CARE making changes on our campus.
“We pride ourselves on being a social justice school, but are we really doing the work in the name of social justice? I’m glad to see that there’s finally a group on campus committed to making changes,” sophomore social work major Ashley Hutton said.
With the newly established CARE, I believe that strides will be made to combat racism at the College. Our students and faculty of color deserve to feel honored, valued and protected at this institution and it is time that changes were made to ensure that this happens.
