Anti-Racism and Inclusion Alliance
We, The Springfield Technical Community College Anti-racism and Inclusion Alliance (AIA) aim to build on our identity as a “Peoples College” and the only career and technical community college leader in the State of Massachusetts, to strive towards strengthening our commitment to the racial, cultural experiences within our community and institution. We honor this commitment at the national, state, local, and institutional levels. At the national level we recognize systemic and institutionalized racism with a specific focus on higher education and the community college environment and the past, present, future racist policies, practices, as being embedded in our society and function as an institution. We realize inequitable policies and practices serve to perpetuate systematic oppression and fosters a variety of problematic challenges faced by our students, faculty, and staff creating barriers to academic success and degree completion, and impedes the progress of The College as a whole.
History
In the Fall of 2020, STCC President John B. Cook sponsored the creation of a new Anti-Racism and Inclusion Alliance to move forward actions that address our own equity gaps and measure our success at confronting systemic racism. This Alliance will work to promote an integrated and systemic approach across the college-specific to diversity, inclusion, and equity, with the stated outcome of ensuring STCC serves as an antiracist institution.
AIA@STCC
STCC must continue to move forward with actions that address our own equity gaps, and measure our success at addressing systemic racism. This Alliance will work to promote an integrated and systemic approach across the college-specific to diversity, inclusion, and equity, with the stated outcome of ensuring STCC serves as an antiracist institution.
STCC supports true policy reforms that bring justice, ensure human rights, and address criminal justice inequities. We know community colleges are specific in that our existence helps to ameliorate educational racism, which has, and continues to limit, where students attend college. There is a good deal of pride we earn as an affordable college, focused on limiting student debt for STCC graduates.
We are clear in our institutional core values, which includes Integrity (“committed to fostering an environment that promotes truth”); Respect (“creating an inclusive environment for all”); and a Student-Centered approach (“providing a diverse educational experience that promotes personal and professional growth”).
Ethic of Care
STCC is proud of our work to be inclusive, diverse, and an institution of access. We are unique given our status as both a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and a technical community college.
We continue listening and responding to our communities’ need for educational access and affordability; we continue pushing at barriers that impact retention and graduation rates for our students of color; and we continue pulling down walls that limit African American and Latinx student participation in our Health and STEM programs. This is our ethic of care; this is our work helping students transform their lives.
Alliance Leadership
- Dr. Kiyota Garcia, Dean of Student Initiatives
- Dr. Emilie Clucas Leaderman, Assistant Dean of Liberal and Professional Studies
- Monica Strzempko, Professor of Biology
Alliance Membership
To express your interest in serving as a member of the Antiracist & Inclusion Alliance at STCC, please email the leadership team at AIA@stcc.edu.
Responsibilities and Representation
AIA@STCC includes a broadly representative group of faculty, staff, administrators, and students, with the following responsibilities for our institution:
- Examine how and where the college invests and supports diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracist initiatives, practices, and policies
- Strengthen communication efforts across the college-specific to equity, inclusion, and antiracism work.
- Research and explore best practices at peer institutions, and pending COVID-19 considerations, possibly visit other campuses.
- Along with senior administrators, establish a framework for antiracism that is included in current and future planning.
- Provide progress reports and recommendations specific to initiatives, practices, and policies, to the President, Trustees, and campus at large.
- Support pedagogy and curricular development through robust faculty support which scales inclusive and innovative teaching.
- Engage with shared governance bodies regarding process, progress, and development of goals and recommendations.
- Explore institutional diversity data and statistics with relevant offices on campus to identify areas for improvement.