Taking Action Against Racism Anti-Racism Plan

Last updated: March 30, 2023. Updates are included throughout the plan; find them below.

1. A Racial History of Amherst. 

In ReclaimAmherst, students and alumni write that the College’s founders were slave owners, among the most vicious racists of their day. Over my nine years as president, I have asked our archivist, Mike Kelly, several times to help me understand Amherst’s relationships to slavery. After quite a bit of examination, Mike does not believe the research supports the claim that the founders were slave owners. As far as we can find, David Parsons, who is named as a slave owner in ReclaimAmherst, and who did own slaves, could not be considered a founder. For more information on the founders, please explore the College’s early history collection and a web page of resources on College history. Regardless of whether any founders are discovered to have owned slaves or been directly involved in the slave trade, there is no question that the institution of slavery produced considerable wealth for many white people in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and likely for some with ties to Amherst over the years.

What we need, in my view, is a broad and deep historical study of the College’s ties to slaveholding and the capital accumulation that slavery provided for some, following the lead of other projects such as those initiated at Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania. We will want our study to extend into the present, illuminating the experiences, achievements, and contributions of our Black alumni. We will commission this project with the expectation that interested Amherst faculty, staff, students, and alumni will be involved in the research. The College will make all findings publicly available. I will ask the provost, Catherine Epstein, herself a historian, and our archivist, Mike Kelly, to assume responsibility for organizing the project and establishing a panel of scholars with research expertise in this area.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• The Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty has primary responsibility for this important project. I have asked Provost Epstein and Mike Kelly, Head of the Archives and Special Collections, to co-chair a steering committee that Provost Epstein and I will appoint before the end of the semester. It will be made up of faculty, staff, and students who will advise on the project’s design and development, soliciting perspectives and advice from those who have undertaken similar studies on other campuses and from members of the Amherst community.
• A call for applications from those students interested in participating in the archival research will go out before January 15. We hope and expect that researchers from other colleges and universities will also assist with the project. The Provost’s Office will provide updates on the work every six months, starting in February 2021. The charge from the president is available on our website. Please feel free to submit advice and expressions of interest via the comment form.
  

March 18, 2021 Update:

• The steering committee on a Racial History of Amherst College has now been established. Co-chaired by Provost Epstein and Mike Kelly, the committee includes Sika Essegbey '23; Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Norm Jones; Professor Hilary Moss; Ellis Phillips-Gallucci '23; Chief Advancement Officer Betsy Cannon Smith '84; Professor Leah Schmalzbauer; and Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion Angie Tissi-Gassoway. Nancy Ratner, Director of Academic Projects, supports the work of the steering committee.
• The committee had an initial meeting to discuss its charge and functions. Shortly thereafter, Mike Kelly hired three student researchers, Claire Dunbar '21, Edmund Kennedy '23, and Cy Nguyen '21, to further explore Amherst's connections to slavery. To date, the students have read background articles about slavery and higher education while reviewing websites produced by other colleges and universities exploring this history. The next step will be to launch a website where Mike Kelly and the research assistants will write blog posts about their work; the goal is to engage the community through regular communication about readings and research findings. One specific goal for this first cohort is to turn the original Charity Fund ledger, the record of the people and donations that established the college, into a publicly available spreadsheet that will support further research and data visualization projects.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• The Racial History of Amherst College Steering Committee has established The Racial History of Amherst College, a website chronicling student research into the history of race and racism at Amherst. This summer Anna Smith ’22 traveled to archives and historical sites in Mississippi for her senior thesis on Israel Trask, a slaveholder who served as a College trustee and who donated to the original Charity Fund that the town of Amherst established to found the College. You can follow Anna’s research, the most thorough account of Trask and his ties to the College to date, on the Library’s blog. From October 4-7, the genealogist, photographer, and documentarian Nicka Smith, whose ancestors were enslaved by Trask, will share her work on the history of her family with the College community. 
• This fall the students will research the college's early financial history, with the goal of determining links between the College's early finances and slavery. Professor Betsy Herbin-Triant, one of our newly hired African-American historians, has joined the Steering Committee.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• The Racial History of Amherst College Steering Committee has established The Racial History of Amherst College, an online chronicle of student research into the history of race and racism at Amherst. We are pursuing this research to learn more about the nature and scope of the College’s ties to slavery, undo the erasure of slavery from the College's history, and explore issues of race in College history more generally.
• Under the direct supervision of Mike Kelly, Head of Archives & Special Collections, student research assistants have reviewed early trustees and donors to the Charity Fund that formed the basis for the College’s founding endowment. Three people associated with Amherst College were found to have direct ties to slavery. Many of you will recall that this past October, the genealogist, photographer, and documentarian Nicka Smith, whose ancestors were enslaved by Israel Trask, an early donor to and trustee of the College, shared her work on the history of her family with the College community. We will recognize and build relationships with members of the Trask and other descendent communities as the work continues. As research progresses, new information will be added to The Racial History of Amherst.
• Because of the importance of advancing this work, in early February, we launched a search for a two-year post-doctoral fellow who will investigate and analyze the College's historical relationship to slavery and assist in making this history visible to members of our campus community, alumni, and the larger public. Interviews are underway, and we expect to have at least one post-doc researcher from a strong pool of candidates starting in fall 2022. 
• Student research findings and continued research will directly support the work of the Racial History Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. The research fellow’s work will likely involve exploring other archives in New England to develop a fuller picture of the economic landscape in which the early donors to Amherst worked and earned their money. When the findings are ready, the Committee on Iconography and Representation will consider how best to recognize this, among other aspects of our history.
• We are in the process of joining the Universities Studying Slavery consortium and will benefit from collaboration with other institutions.

March 30, 2023 Update:

• Since September 2022, Racial History of Amherst Research Fellow Mike Jirik has been conducting research on the College’s historical ties to slaveholding and to capital accumulation based on slavery. This April, Mike will present an overview of what he has learned so far, in conversation with representatives from two local history projects, Ancestral Bridges and Documenting the Early History of Black Lives in the Connecticut River.

2. Biennial Alumni and Student Testimonies. 

We will organize and participate in biennial sessions for Black alumni and current students to share their experiences and perspectives with members of the senior staff and the Board of Trustees. A detailed summary of proposals for change will be made available to all participants within a month of the testimonies. The first such gathering will take place in the summer of 2021, and testimonies will recur every two years thereafter.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• These sessions will provide current students and alumni an opportunity to propose changes they believe the College needs to make in order to achieve its DEI goals, and to present those proposals directly to a representative from the senior staff, the Board of Trustees, and the Committee of Six. A small committee, chaired by Chaka Laguerre ’08 and Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Norm Jones, and including students, alumni, and staff will be responsible for designing the sessions. Please send preliminary thoughts through the comment form. The committee will announce the design and the date for the first biennial session no later than April 1, 2021, for a first iteration in the summer of 2021.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• A subcommittee of the faculty anti-racism leadership group has worked on this project. The members of this subcommittee are Professor Khary Polk, Professor Sonya Clark, and Chaka Laguerre ’08.
• CEIO Norm Jones and Chaka Laguerre are taking the lead on a first biennial event which will be announced in April and planned for fall 2021.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• We had imagined that the presentation of alumni and student experiences and ideas for change would occur in person, hence, the delay in establishing the contours of the biennial exchanges. The President’s Office has commenced planning a first iteration of the testimonies for June 2022.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• The pandemic has so far made it impossible to convene further large-scale testimonials. At this point, it may be wise for additional testimonies to be organized and invited as part of the anticipated External Review of our DEI efforts.
• We were able to convene a number of on-campus and virtual events featuring our students and alumni of color:
• Alumni and Parent Programs hosted “Women of Color: A Virtual Gathering of Alumnae and Students,” a virtual version of the annual Women of Color Brunch. This year’s featured guest was Shyloe Jones ’14, Senior Manager, Health Equity at Families USA.
• Nichelle S. Carr ’98 and Jason Gill ’97 have been leading the production of Black Women of Amherst, a multimedia project inspired by Mavis Campbell’s 1999 book Black Women of Amherst College. The project, which includes a podcast series, is nearing the final stages of production.
• Earlier this month, the Office of Student Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, ODEI, Advancement, and the Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning hosted the second annual Career Weekend, a virtual event aimed at students of color featuring alumni of color from an array of career fields.
• ODEI, Alumni and Parent Programs, and the Office of Identity and Cultural Resources are collaborating to offer various affinity virtual gatherings including Asian Alumni-Student Connections, LGBTQIA Connections and Logros Latinxs.

3. The Board of Trustees. 

The Board of Trustees is committed to racial and generational diversity among its members and will report further on its deliberations in these areas following the October 2020 board meeting. The board will shortly establish a new standing committee, on par with its other standing committees, focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The committee will be charged with responsibility for oversight of the College’s progress toward these goals, which will also be taken into account by the board in its annual evaluations of the president. Other board standing committees, such as the committees on instruction, human resources, and student life, have aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion in their portfolios and will increase their attention to these goals, as well. The board is resolute in its support of my intentions and commitments in this letter.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• The trustees have now established a standing DEI committee of the board, and in so doing have taken a step that is relatively rare among college and university boards. The committee has met twice, once in advance of a full board meeting and once during the regular October meeting of the board. It will meet again in early December in advance of the full board’s scheduled January meeting. In the first two meetings, CEIO Norm Jones and the president presented the administration’s goals and initiatives as well as the organizational structure of DEI work at the College.
• The antiracism student advisory group has requested that the board’s DEI committee meet on an annual basis with them.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• The new standing DEI committee of the board continues to meet during each board meeting and between meetings. They are focusing on ensuring that diversity, equity, and inclusion are part of every board committee’s work, as well as a focus of the board as a whole.
• The board’s DEI Committee met with President Martin’s student anti-racism advisory group in March 2021.
•  A number of Board members have joined a DEI reading and discussion group with President Martin and Norm Jones.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the Board was formally added to the bylaws at the May 2021 meeting: 3.6 The Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, subject to control of the Board, shall concern itself with the College’s strategic goals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Committee shall also guide the Board’s own work with these goals, ensuring that diversity, equity, and inclusion are incorporated into the work of the Board’s committees and to the Board’s decision-making as a whole.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the Board was added formally to the bylaws at the May 2021 meeting and continues to meet, most recently at the April 2022 meeting. 

4. The Senior Staff. 

We will increase the racial diversity of the senior staff as positions become available. In the meantime, the president’s task force on diversity and inclusion will become a standing committee made up of faculty, staff, and students, and alumni, including representatives of the Committee of Six and other major governance committees. This standing committee, co-chaired by Norm Jones and a member of the faculty, will have responsibility for reviewing progress of the three-year diversity, equity, and inclusion goals of each major unit of the College. The committee’s assessment of progress will inform the annual performance reviews of the senior staff. We will create a website on which divisional goals and other commitments made in this document can be tracked for progress.

Members of the senior staff will meet at least once a semester with the leadership of the Black Students Union and with representatives of other student organizations.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• All senior staff members have set DEI goals for their particular areas of responsibility and will be refining those goals in ongoing exchange with the staff members in their units over the next several months. Before the end of the spring 2021 semester, those goals, metrics for assessing progress, and progress toward the goals will be available to the community. As noted above, the Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, formerly a task force, will review the goals and progress and share their assessments with the president. The senior staff has benefited over the course of the semester from internal discussions of race and racism, from two workshops designed specifically for the senior team and led by Dina Levi, Director of Workforce Equity and Inclusive Leadership, and from programming on the history of race and racism in the U.S.
• Because of the intensity of our work on COVID-19, the senior staff was not able to set up meetings with the leadership of BSU and other student groups. The student anti-racism advisory group has served some of the purposes we had in mind. Before the fall 2020 semester ends, we would like to consult with the e-boards of BSU and other affinity groups about how best and most realistically to realize the goal of twice-yearly meetings of senior staff members with members of affinity-group e-boards.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• Each senior staff member has established DEI goals within their division, and each division has a DEI plan that the College’s Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is reviewing.
• The Provost and Dean of the Faculty is also in the process of developing an anti-racism plan for the academic and administrative areas for which she has responsibility.
• Select members of the senior staff have met with the student anti-racism advisory group and President Martin’s COVID-19 student task force.
• Select members of the senior staff have been asked to meet with the AAS in sessions open to students.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• Candidates for the Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer position will begin visiting campus this week. Please email Liz Agosto, Dean of Students/Interim Chief Student Affairs Officer, or Catherine Epstein, Provost and Dean of the Faculty, for more information.

• Each division within the College has created its own Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals, which have been reviewed by the College’s Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. With the support of the Office of Workforce Equity and Inclusive Leadership, the divisions have begun implementing the goals, which will be shared and updated on a common website by December 1, 2021.

• The Endowment Office is working to learn more about the diversity of fund managers and funds and seeks to invest in more diverse enterprises.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• Angie Tissi-Gassoway, who continues to serve as interim chief equity and inclusion officer, has joined the Five College Chief Diversity Officer group and Liberal Arts Diversity Officers, a national organization.
• Each division within the College has created its own Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals, with action plans that outline the steps currently being taken to achieve them, the target timeframe within which they will be carried out, the metrics that will be used to determine the extent to which each goal is successfully completed, and status updates. 
• The divisional goals are aligned within a new Equity Framework which articulates the overarching goals guiding our efforts.
• These goals and the framework were developed through a collaborative process involving members of each division, ODEI, and the Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and are intended to be living documents that will adapt as the needs of the College change and as the work progresses. The efforts documented in these plans are well underway and will be measured and reassessed regularly.
• The Investment Office continues its work on increasing and supporting diversity on its team, as well as with current and new fund managers. This work represents a long-term commitment enhanced by fund manager partner surveys, discussions with leadership, pipeline development, and an endowment internship program in collaboration with the Loeb Center.

Admission (new section).

October 4, 2021 Update:

• This year’s first-year class, for the first time ever, sees more than half of students identifying as domestic students of color. This news was picked up by a number of outlets, including Inside Higher Ed. This year’s class also has the highest proportion of women, with 55 percent of students identifying as women. Another two percent identify as not being within the gender binary. 
• The Offices of Student Affairs and of Financial Aid are working with Chloe McKenzie '14, founder of BlackFem, a wealth justice organization. Chloe is helping the College to better serve its students. As one example, she is helping to surface additional barriers students face (e.g., food insecurity, housing insecurity, and social and athletic costs). To ground this work, we are using a sample (approximately 7 percent) of students who received financial aid during the 2019-2020 academic year as a springboard to review some of the Office of Financial Aid's policies and procedures.  Additionally, Chloe will be working with both offices to create robust and transparent information about available funds and how students can seek personal and financial support when facing unexpected hardship.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• In October 2021, we announced a significant expansion of financial aid that will not only help us recruit the next generation of Amherst students, but will also benefit our returning students by increasing financial support to both low-income and middle-income students. Additionally, students with the highest levels of need in each class year will receive a $1,000 annual access grant on top of their financial aid to help defray the costs they face. The College is also permanently funding the Emergency Fund for students who face unexpected hardship.
• The College received more than 14,800 first-year applications this year, a record high, from which 1,026 students were offered admission. Among admitted students, 62 percent are domestic students of color, 22 percent are first-generation college students, and 9 percent are international. We anticipate that the Class of 2026 will be one of the most racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse in the College's history.
• The College is organizing an amicus brief in support of the holistic consideration of race in admissions. The brief will be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in challenges against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. Topics related to the Supreme Court case are currently being considered by the Faculty Committee on Admission & Financial Aid (FCAFA) and will be on the agenda for the Board of Trustees at its May meeting and throughout next year.

March 30, 2023 Update:

• The College received more than 12,700 first-year applications this year, one of the highest on record, from which 9% of students were offered admission. Admitted students hail from 54 countries around the world, 49 U.S. states, and Washington, D.C., and a majority of admitted students are domestic students of color. We anticipate that the Class of 2027 will be one of the most racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse in the College's history. 
• In August, the College submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of the holistic consideration of race in college admissions. 32 colleges and universities signed onto our brief, supporting Harvard University and the University of North Carolina in their cases currently before the Court. In March 2023, President Elliott hosted a public conversation on the case and its implications that featured Ryan Park '05, Solicitor General of North Carolina, who argued the UNC case before the Supreme Court. 

5. Faculty Diversity and Development. 

We will continue increasing the racial diversity of the faculty, building on the progress that the provost and the chief diversity and inclusion officer have made over the past several years. All search committees for new faculty hires participate in anti-bias workshops and all candidate pools are submitted to the chief diversity and inclusion officer for review and approval. These measures will remain in place.

Of the five senior faculty FTE’s requested by the president and approved by the board in 2015 to diversify the faculty, only two lines have been filled. Together, Provost Epstein, CEIO Jones, and I will urge our academic departments to step up their efforts to identify and recruit outstanding Black and Latinx scholars for these approved positions. Those departments that have made progress toward racial diversity using existing lines or have filled one of the open new lines will get preference when the president and provost review recommendations from the Committee on Educational Policy for searches going forward. We are committed to making new funding available, based on demonstrated success. Our goal is to have the faculty that reflects the diversity of the student body.

Pre-tenure faculty rightly note that many departmental practices are opaque at best. Success in recruiting, retaining, mentoring, and tenuring outstanding faculty from a wide range of backgrounds requires greater clarity and transparency in departments. Over the course of this academic year, all academic departments will be required to document their policies and practices in departmental handbooks; these will be shared with the provost by the end of the spring 2021 semester. The provost’s office will make available best practices and scholarship in creating truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive working and learning environments. All departments will be expected to participate.

Given the abundance of evidence of racial and gender bias in teaching evaluations and their significance in reappointment, tenure, and promotion decisions, the president and provost will charge an ad hoc committee with exploring more holistic approaches to the evaluation of teaching that will be used during reappointment and tenure processes. The ad hoc committee’s work should be completed before the end of the spring 2021 semester.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• A subcommittee of the faculty anti-racism leadership group described above has been meeting on a weekly basis to develop strategies for accelerating the hiring of a more diverse faculty, including ideas for filling the three unfilled faculty positions mentioned in the plan and possible cluster hiring efforts. They are also exploring ways of enhancing the retention of faculty of color. Ultimate authority and responsibility for efforts to bolster the hiring and retention of a more diverse faculty rest with the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI), and the academic departments. The faculty anti-racism leadership group will report its recommendations at the end of fall 2020 semester or, at the latest, the beginning of the spring 2021 semester.
• Faculty Equity and Inclusion Officers Allen Hart and Pawan Dhingra are responsible for developing strategies for faculty retention, working in collaboration with the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty and our academic departments. Transparency about departmental decision-making is one of a number of recommendations that have emerged from discussions with faculty, both tenured and non-tenured. Provost Epstein expects that every department will have developed a handbook outlining decision-making processes before the end of this academic year so that the workings of the departments and their procedures and practices for recruitment and retention of faculty, for re-appointment, tenure, and promotion, and for other key departmental matters become more systematic and clearer to all department members.
• Due to the pandemic, the provost has delayed forming the ad hoc committee charged with considering research on bias in teaching evaluations and exploring more holistic approaches to the evaluation of teaching that will be used during reappointment and tenure processes. The committee will be formed in spring 2021 and will do its work in the 2021-22 academic year.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• Faculty hiring continues to go very well. A full update will be provided when the hiring season has ended later this semester.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• Hiring: We hired 12 tenure-track faculty members in 2020-2021.  Eight are faculty of color; five are African-American scholar-teachers. Since fall 2017 (five years ago), we have hired 62 tenure-line faculty. Of this group, 47 percent have been faculty of color (including international faculty) and 50 percent have been women. Looking specifically at STEM, we have hired 24 tenure-line faculty since fall 2016. Of this group, 33 percent are faculty of color and 50 percent are women.

• Transparency: We continue to make policies and practices more transparent within and across departments. Almost all academic departments have completed drafts of their department handbooks. The provost’s office reviewed the department handbooks over the summer, and has distributed a list of best practices, including instituting formal mentoring processes and pre-tenure teaching observations.

• We are also working with the Committee of Six to clarify tenure criteria and to clarify reappointment procedures. Faculty Equity and Inclusion Officers participate in New Faculty Welcome and Orientation, hold office hours, and are hosting a New Faculty Dinner and Reading Program. In Spring 2021 they co-facilitated a total of six antiracist pedagogy workshops with the Center for Teaching and Learning. 

April 25, 2022 Update:

• The Faculty Equity and Inclusion Officers (FEIOs), in collaboration with the Provost and Dean of the Faculty’s office, have created an on boarding document for all incoming faculty to foster inclusion and belonging.
• So far this spring, we have hired nine new tenure-line faculty members, seven of whom are faculty of color. The faculty of color are African-American, Asian American, and international faculty from the Global South. We have two offers out to Latinx faculty. We have made significant progress in this area. For context, in fall 2011, 16 percent of our faculty were people of color. In fall 2021, it was 27 percent, and it will be higher after this year’s hiring is complete. We expect the number to continue to increase over time.
• The College has approved a cluster-hire for the Economics, English, and Psychology departments to search for scholar-teachers who focus on Asian American studies in their disciplines. We expect that this will greatly strengthen Asian American studies at the College.
• In recognition of the isolation that we know Black faculty and staff experience, our FEIOs have relaunched “Black at Amherst,” a monthly community-building lunch series for faculty and staff.
• We continue to make policies and practices more transparent within and across departments. This spring, all academic departments have completed tenure criteria. We are also working with the Committee of Six to clarify tenure criteria and reappointment procedures and expect to bring this material to the faculty for a vote.
• Pawan Dhingra, Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Faculty, created additional faculty development programs. He ran a four-part series last fall and a two-part series this spring for academic department chairs to enhance their chairing skills.
• The FEIOs meet with every single faculty interviewee who comes through the College. Since last fall, they have held at least 44 individual meetings to help recruit new faculty at all ranks.
• This spring, we are running the Pathways Program for associate professors, intended to help associate professors clarify their goals for the next period of their careers.
• Amherst was the lead institution in a $1.6 million Mellon Grant to the Five Colleges to create a series of programs to support humanities faculty develop administrative expertise over the next 3.5 years.

March 30, 2023 Update:

• Hiring: So far this academic year, we have hired nine new tenure-line faculty members, five of whom are faculty of color. Notably, in Fall 2011, 16 percent of our faculty were people of color and, in Fall 2021, the number was 27 percent. We anticipate a continued upward trend.
• The Faculty Equity and Inclusion Officers (FEIOs) continue to work with search chairs and committees of tenure-line and visiting faculty searches across the College to integrate best practices for inclusive search processes. They continue to meet with candidates at the close of their interviews and have collaborated with the Mathematics and Statistics department to develop a two-page information sheet for candidates regarding resources available to support research.
• In collaboration with the Provost’s office, FEIOs have launched a faculty of color collective, an annual dinner with new faculty to discuss The Black Academic’s Guide to Winning Tenure—Without Losing Your Soul, and have worked with the Center for Teaching and Learning to support faculty launching sophomore seminars integrating issues of race and racism.
• FEIOs have supported faculty DEI initiatives, including a DEI committee dinner for students and faculty about resources and events; and student presentations at the American Association of Colleges and Universities conference on Diversity Equity and Student Success about the ways Amherst departments have integrated students into their antiracism and DEI efforts.

6. Pedagogical and Curricular Development. 

Provost Epstein has made curriculum development, with specific attention to race and racism, a priority for the faculty and expects every department to take part in workshops focused on pedagogical and curricular development. CEIO Jones has asked Allen Hart, James E. Ostendarp Professor of Psychology and a faculty equity and inclusion officer, and Pawan Dhingra, a professor of American studies and likewise a faculty equity and inclusion officer, to be part of the work of making race and racism more central to teaching. We currently have several inclusivity-focused examples of innovation in teaching and learning that are models of what it means to promote student success. One is already a national model, Associate Professor of Chemistry Sheila Jaswal’s “Being Human in STEM.” A new program promises to be equally successful, the STEM Incubator project, created and taught by Assistant Professor of Biology Marc Edwards and Assistant Professor of Chemistry Chris Durr, and also taught by Assistant Professor of Statistics Brittney Bailey. Workshops will begin during the fall 2020 semester.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• The workshops foreseen in the August plan have not yet been planned or offered, given the pressures on faculty and staff time by COVID-19. We will provide a status report in our next update. Meanwhile, a subcommittee of the Faculty Leadership Group has focused its efforts on promising approaches to ensuring that students’ education at Amherst includes an understanding of the history and ongoing impact of race and racism in the U.S. and beyond. Members of the subcommittee are in the process of soliciting feedback on their ideas from faculty colleagues and will make final recommendations to the full leadership committee and appropriate faculty governance committees within the next three months.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• Anti-racist pedagogy conversation circles began in Feb. 2021, facilitated by the faculty equity and inclusion officers and the Center for Teaching and Learning, with the goal of working together to better understand how to create a fully inclusive learning culture at Amherst. They occur every other Thursday.
• The curricular subcommittee of the faculty anti-racism leadership group includes Professors Brittney Bailey, Amrita Basu, Rhonda Cobham-Sander, Pawan Dhingra, Khary Polk, and Jen Manion, with weekly meetings that include Provost Epstein and President Martin. They presented a working proposal for strengthening students’ education in race and racism to faculty in March 2021 for initial feedback; the proposal has been well-received by many and the subcommittee members continue to revise the proposal and seek feedback from numerous smaller meetings of faculty, a meeting with instructional staff, and a meeting with the student anti-racism advisory group. The group will next seek broader input from students.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• Anti-Racism in the Curriculum: All academic departments need to prepare a report for the provost’s office by the end of this semester on their anti-racism initiatives--curricular changes, pedagogical changes, programming, etc.

• Twenty-six faculty members from disciplines across the College received stipends over the summer to integrate anti-racist content and pedagogy into existing or new courses. The provost will receive reports on their work in November.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• Most academic departments have prepared a report for the provost’s office on their anti-racism initiatives: curricular changes, pedagogical changes, programming, etc. The reports are due at the end of this semester.
• Faculty members from disciplines across the College received stipends to integrate anti-racist content and pedagogy into existing or new courses. Fifteen faculty members will be offering sophomore seminars broadly focused on issues of race next academic year.

March 30, 2023 Update:

• Each academic department has created an anti-racism report, which explains curricular, pedagogical, and social commitments to advancing learning in this area as well as inclusivity and equity in outcomes.
• Sophomore seminars, which focus on topics of race and anti-racism, have launched this academic year.
• Each administrative office has created anti-racism reports that explain their collaboration and strategies to promote student access and success.
• We have launched a search for an inaugural director of the Strategic Learning Center.
• A new group, the Faculty of Color Collective, has formed to bring faculty together around topics of interest to build community.
• Policies relevant to the pre-tenure and visiting faculty experience within academic departments have been clarified and made more consistent.
• “Being Human in STEM,” a course model originally launched in 2016 by Professor of Chemistry and Interim Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Sheila Jaswal, continues to be adopted at a growing number of campuses across the country. Being Human in STEM: Partnering with Students to Shape Inclusive Practices and Communities, by Sarah Bunnell, Sheila Jaswal, and Megan Leister, was recently published by Stylus Publishing.
• Graduates of our STEM Incubator project, led by Assistant Professor of Biology Marc Edwards, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Chris Durr, and Assistant Professor of Statistics Brittney Bailey since Fall 2020, have this year been admitted to science programs at top-ranked graduate schools.

7. External Review Board. 

We will re-establish an external review board on diversity, equity, and inclusion, to be made up of scholars and practitioners with expertise in educational equity and antiracist work. As was the case with an earlier external advisory team, this board will visit the College every two years and assess progress on the basis of written reports each year they visit. We will seek advice from members of the campus community on the membership of the review team. The board’s reports and recommendations will be submitted to the administration and made available to the entire community and the board of trustees. The first visit of the newly constituted review board will be during the fall 2021 semester. 

November 23, 2020 Update:

• Primary responsibility for periodic external reviews lies with ODEI and the President’s Office. The faculty anti-racism leadership group cited above will recommend the members of the new external review team with final decisions made jointly by the senior team and the president. Invitations will go out in spring 2021 with the expectation that the first visit should occur no later than fall 2021 or, if necessary, because of the pandemic, spring 2022. We will update the Amherst community in the spring on our progress in establishing the review team for 2021-2022. Please submit ideas for the external review team.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• The faculty anti-racism leadership group has generated an initial list of possible members of an external review board and will solicit recommendations from the broader community.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• On the basis of last spring's discussions, I will invite a group of 3-4 reviewers to visit campus in spring 2022.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• The Anti-Racism Action Plan promises an external review of the anti-racism and diversity, equity, and inclusion work at the College. While we hoped to pursue the external review this spring, we had to postpone the review due to the pandemic. As we welcome a new president, we will assess the best time to convene an external review board.

8. Staff Diversity and Development. 

Just as our faculty should be more representative of our student body, so must our staff, especially in managerial and leadership positions. We will accelerate efforts not only to construct diverse candidate pools for open positions, but also hold ourselves accountable for hiring Black and Latinx staff in all areas of the College. I will personally hold senior staff accountable for making measurable progress, beginning immediately. For supervisory, managerial, and senior-level positions, we will contract with a Black-owned firm to ensure we are reaching out to all potential Black, Indigenous, and other candidates of color.

In addition, our staff—regardless of their race, ethnicity, and identity—must better understand and respect the lived experiences of the students they support and provide services to students in ways that can meet every student where they are. We will redouble our efforts to provide anti-bias training and other forms of education to all staff, many of whom have expressed eagerness to learn and improve competencies in this important work. We will begin immediately to require bias training for all search committees, to assess whether positions have been too narrowly defined for successful recruitment, and to require that all candidate pools and lists of finalists be submitted to Dina Levi in the office of diversity and inclusion for review.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• Primary responsibility for staff recruitment and retention rests with the Office of Human Resources (OHR), which reports to the Chief Policy Officer/General Counsel, and with ODEI. All search committees are now required to participate in anti-bias training at the start of the search. OHR is working with departments on successful recruitment strategies and is currently searching for a Director of Recruitment and Onboarding. In collaboration with ODEI (specifically, the Office of Workforce Equity and Inclusive Leadership) the new director will be responsible for diversifying candidate pools, supporting the hiring of a racially diverse workforce, strengthening the College’s recruiting and orientation model, and supporting staff retention.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• The Black-owned executive search firm Carrington & Carrington, Ltd., will be assisting the College with the search for a new Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). 
• The Office of Financial Aid has a signed contract for a search (now underway) for a senior manager. The search is headed by a Black consultant; two of the three search consultants on the search are Black. 
• We will continue to prioritize working with Black-owned firms, but we have also learned that it may not always be possible to contract with one. Many executive search firms are owned by the set of partners of the firm rather than a single person, for example.
• We will ensure that any search firm we use includes recruiters of color and/or people with a strong track record of identifying and successfully recruiting candidates of color.
• During the search process for the Director of Recruitment and Onboarding, the CHRO announced her resignation from the College. As a result, we are temporarily delaying filling the position to allow the new CHRO to participate in selecting the successful candidate. Our search for a new CHRO is underway. 
• Among important recent staff hires are new directors for the Resource Centers team: Lupita Mendez (she/her) joins us from the University of Arizona as the incoming Director of the Center for Diversity and Student Leadership. David Ko (he/him) will start soon as the Director of the Center for International Student Engagement. Hayley Georgia Nicholas (she/her) will be the Director of the Women’s and Gender Center. She will move to her new position from the Office of Admission, once the Amherst Class of 2025 has been admitted.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• The College is currently searching for a new Chief Human Resources Officer with a concerted focus on identifying a diverse slate of candidates.
• We have launched a remote work pilot project for AY 21-22, which we believe will help attract a more diverse set of candidates for a range of different positions at the College.
• The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion continues to provide workshops and education on anti-racism and inclusive practices. In addition, ODEI partners with the Office of Human Resources on leadership development and inclusive hiring practices that include building more diverse candidate pools. 

April 25, 2022 Update:

• Kate Harrington joined Amherst in December 2021 as Chief Human Resources Officer. Kate oversees all aspects of our Human Resources operation and continues to lead the department’s transformation into a strategic partner that supports staff, faculty, and the College in attracting, retaining, and developing the most talented individuals and diverse workforce in service of Amherst’s mission.
• The Office of Human Resources (OHR) and the Office of Workforce Equity & Inclusive Leadership (WEIL) collaborated to enhance our hiring practices to increase staff diversity. All members of the community participating in staff hiring undergo training in inclusive hiring and are shifting outreach, screening, and interviewing practices accordingly.
• The remote work pilot for 2021-22 is nearing completion. Most recently, OHR sent a pulse survey to all staff members to gather important information about the pilot’s design, implementation, and impact. We believe that, if implemented, the program will help attract a more diverse set of candidates for a range of positions at the College.
• A newly hired Assistant Director of Workforce Equity and Inclusive Leadership will allow us to support new workshops and learning opportunities for staff and faculty on race, racism and anti-racism, allyship, and communication across differences.
• ODEI continues to provide workshops and education on anti-racism and inclusive practices, as well as opportunities for staff and faculty to grow in their understanding and ability to support a diverse student body. In addition, WEIL partners with OHR on leadership development and inclusive hiring practices that include building more diverse candidate pools. A total of 464 staff and faculty members participated in workshops this past year.
• Earlier this spring, OHR and WEIL conducted a series of staff listening sessions focused on hearing about the experiences of people who hold marginalized identities. The outside facilitator who conducted the sessions will provide the College with a report by the end of April, to be used to help the College support a culture of belonging and attract, retain, and engage a highly diverse staff.
• ODEI, in collaboration with campus partners, is piloting the Faculty and Staff of Color Partnership Program to support professional and personal development of faculty and staff of color, build and foster connections across campus, and improve recruitment and retention. Faculty and staff in the program will be paired with a colleague in another department to share in the equal exchange of ideas, reflections, and challenges. Additionally, a parallel program is being created for white staff and faculty to engage in anti-racism education and community-building.

March 30, 2023 Update:

• Having an Assistant Director of Workforce Equity and Inclusive Leadership (WEIL) in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has enabled us to support new learning opportunities for staff and faculty on race, racism and anti-racism, allyship, and communication across differences.
• WEIL has worked with campus partners to articulate DEI competencies, assist staff in DEI learning and development, and connect the competencies to strategies and programming for students, staff, and faculty.
• WEIL’s inclusive hiring program supports the Office of Human Resources and hiring managers in increasing the diversity of the staff through hiring practices that mitigate bias. WEIL is updating the asynchronous learning module on inclusive hiring currently required of all community members serving on a staff search committee.

9. Senior Fellows Program. 

In order to ensure that we benefit from the work of the most distinguished voices in the area of anti-racist scholarship and policy, the president’s office will make funding available for visits by distinguished scholars and policy experts in the field. Ideally, this program of visiting fellows would become part of an existing center or unit. Fellows will be asked to be on campus or available remotely for two weeks each year for a period of two years to give a series of named public lectures, hold seminars, and offer office hours. Inaugural fellows will be selected during the fall 2020 semester for visits during the 2021-22 academic year.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• A subcommittee of the faculty anti-racist leadership group has proposed a two-year pilot program with senior fellows funded by presidential discretionary funds and hosted by the Center for Humanistic Inquiry and the President’s Office. The subcommittee seeks recommendations for senior fellows and welcomes your ideas. More information will be forthcoming, but if you have initial ideas, please send them to Darryl Harper, Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Center for Humanistic Inquiry.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• Professor Harper and the committee have collected roughly 40 nominations for the program to date. A committee will meet within the next ten days to prioritize the list, after which Professor Harper will begin reaching out to gauge interest and availability of the top choices. Announcements will be made by late April or early May.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• We welcomed the first Presidential Scholar, Harriet Washington, to campus September 24- October 1. She met with students, faculty, and staff throughout the week and held a live-streamed public conversation in Johnson Chapel with Professor Katrina Karkazis, our first live lecture in the Chapel since March 2020! The next visiting scholar will be Kwame Anthony Appiah, at the end of October. Viet Thanh Nguyen and Chanda Prescod-Weinstein will visit in spring 2022. The slate of Presidential Scholars for 2022-2023 will be announced soon. My thanks to Professor Darryl Harper, the CHI Advisory Board, CASE, and Communications for their work to make this series possible.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• This year, we welcomed Presidential Scholars Harriet Washington, Anthony Kwame Appiah, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Chanda Prescod-Weinstein to campus for short-term residencies during which they met with students, faculty, and staff in multiple settings. Each delivered a keynote address in the President’s Colloquium on Race and Racism. Videos for past speakers are available on the website. Next year’s Presidential Scholars will include Jason Moran, Karma Chavez, and Saidiya Hartman.

March 30, 2023 Update:

• In 2022-23, we will have welcomed four Presidential Scholars to campus, and the program has been extended through 2023-24.

10. Bias, Harassment, and Discrimination. 

The College is establishing a new anti-discrimination and harassment policy and a bias reporting protocol that will serve all members of the community. In conjunction, the College is developing a single point of entry for all reports of identity-based bias, discrimination, and harassment. A cross-sectional team will review the reports, assess individual and community harm, provide the necessary support to all involved persons, and inform those affected of options for resolving the incident and addressing the harm. These changes will be in place early in the fall 2020 semester.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• New Identity-Based Non-Discrimination and Harassment Policy: The Office of General Counsel has drafted a College policy that explains our processes for addressing harassment and discrimination. The proposed policy is working its way through the approval process, which includes being shared with the Committee of Six. We anticipate that it will take effect at the beginning of the spring 2021 semester, after approval by the president. Once approved, it will be posted on the College’s policy page. Comments and questions about any College policy can be submitted to policies@amherst.edu. (Anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation laws applicable to Amherst College, include, among others: the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Americans with Disabilities Act; the Equal Pay Act; the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act; the Higher Education Opportunity Act; Massachusetts Employment Nondiscrimination Laws [Ch. 151B]; the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act; the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.) 
• Beginning in February, 2021, there will be a portal through which complaints of identity-based harm, including bias incidents, harassment, and discrimination, can be submitted and reviewed by a team of professional staff and faculty. Based on legal standards and College policies, the review team will decide whether the incidents constitute bias or discrimination and harassment. If the incident is a possible Title IX violation, it will be handled through the Title IX process. If an incident appears to fit the legal definition of any other identity-based harassment or discrimination under Civil Rights or other relevant laws, the incident will be managed under the new policy and investigated by internal or external individuals with expertise in the relevant law. If the subsequent investigation shows that harassment or discrimination may have occurred, the matter will be referred to the existing grievance or disciplinary processes for faculty, staff, and students. If the initial review team considers the incident to be bias, it will activate the resources associated with the Center for Restorative Practices (see #11, below). The College will add one additional staff position over the next six months to ensure an adequate number of coordinators for the investigation of these incidents.
• Bias Reporting and Response Protocol: ODEI has primary responsibility for the development and implementation of the bias protocol. Based on the work of the President’s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion, which is composed of students, faculty, and senior staff (and which is now a standing committee), the protocol has been drafted and shared with the Committee of Six and the senior staff of the College. The protocol requires approval of the president and takes effect at the beginning of the spring 2021 semester. In the absence of a bias reporting protocol, Amherst stands out as an anomaly among our peers. As noted below, the thought invested in this initiative and the call for educational and restorative, as opposed to punitive, approaches to bias incidents reflect our mission and values.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• The College has a revised Non-Discrimination and Harassment Policy, an updated Student Code of Conduct, a revised Statement of Academic and Expressive Freedom, a revised Title IX Policy and related procedures, a revised Section 504 Disability Grievance Procedure, and a new Center for Restorative Practices that will implement a bias reporting and response protocol.
• Together, these policies and procedures will help Amherst College build a more inclusive, compassionate, and respectful community in which every student, staff, and faculty member can thrive. Our intention is to provide a number of different opportunities for support and, where applicable, redress, including opportunities for restorative work that helps to rebuild and strengthen relationships and deepen our understanding of ourselves and others. Information that clarifies the processes for addressing identity-based harm is available and will make it easier for members of our community to understand how to report, and to learn more about the steps and potential outcomes of the various processes to which a report could lead.
• An online portal has been created for reporting incidents of bias, discrimination, or harassment. This is a single place where all reports can be made (anonymous reporting is possible). It is intended to make reporting simpler, putting the burden on the College, rather than the person making the report, to ascertain which process, if any, applies to the reported incident. More information and an FAQ will be available soon.
• Amherst has established a review team responsible for responding to reports of identity-based harm. This cross sectional team is chaired by Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Norm Jones and comprises members from the Office of General Counsel, Student Affairs, and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Our ability to offer various forms of support and, where applicable, redress to those who have experienced bias, harassment, or discrimination based on their identities will strengthen the College’s efforts to diminish discrimination, harassment, and bias. For more information on the review process, please visit the online portal. 

October 4, 2021 Update:

• The Identity-Based Harm Review Team meets weekly to review and respond to reports of identity-based harm. The team is in the process of developing a communication about our discrimination and harassment policies and the identity-based harm reporting process.  The team is also working closely with the Title IX office to coordinate training on and responses to sexual misconduct concerns that do not fall under the College's Interim Title IX policy.  

April 25, 2022 Update:

• College leaders have thought strategically about the structure, support systems, and location of Title IX and Accessibility within the institution. More information about the progress in this area will be announced soon.
• Information about the College’s policies and process for reporting identity-based harm is on our website.

March 30, 2023 Update:

• An integrated Civil Rights and Title IX (CRTIX) program was launched within the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) to consolidate and strengthen efforts to ensure that students, staff, and faculty are learning, working, and teaching in an environment that is free of bias, harassment, discrimination, sexual assault, or violence of any kind.
• An Intake, Care, and Education Coordinator was hired to focus specifically on the student experience with the CRTIX office.
• The Bias Education and Response Team (BERT) was reconstituted and, this spring, will conduct comprehensive training with the Anti-Defamation League, to which staff across divisions will be invited.
• The College’s policy and process for reporting identity-based harm is in place.

11. The Center for Restorative Practices at Amherst College (RPAC). 

Led by Professor Allen Hart, this year-long pilot focused on restorative practice has involved over 100 faculty, students, and staff engaged in dialogue-based conflict resolution and community-building. A national search is underway for an assistant director to support a center. RPAC will be used over time to strengthen relationships across students, faculty, staff, and alumni communities. The center director will report annually on the activities of the center, and reports will be made available to the community.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• ODEI has primary responsibility for the connection between bias response and restorative practices. Under Professor Hart’s leadership, the College has established a Center for Restorative Practices designed to address incidents of bias with support, repair, and education. The Center has begun to offer opportunities for dialogue and support and expects to be fully operational by spring 2021. The Center will make it possible for the College to respond to bias incidents, where appropriate, with a restorative, rather than punitive, approach, yielding deeper and more transformative results for those involved and for the community as a whole. The external review committee we establish for anti-racist and broader DEI work will include a review of the Center in its periodic assessments.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• The Center officially launched in March 2021, with a celebratory spring speaker series. Suzanne Belleci has been hired as the Assistant Director of the Center, under the direction of Professor Hart.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• During the 2021-2022 academic year the Center for Restorative Practices will provide support to address harm when it occurs, train campus-wide restorative justice practitioners, establish local connections in the region and the Vermont Law School, and expand the culture of care at Amherst College. The CRP is partnering with many campus offices and constituents including academic and administrative departments, student organizations, individuals, and the Campus Safety Advisory Committee to offer restorative listening circles as forms of community engagement and support.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• Since January, requests for specific circles have greatly increased, along with the Center’s proactive general offerings of community-building circles for all Amherst community members.
• The CRP has been working closely with Athletics, and with student leaders and interns to develop and facilitate community-building and harm-reduction circles for more than 15 sports teams.
• In collaboration with the Office of Student Affairs (OSA), the CRP is running extended care and re-entry circles to support students who have withdrawn or are taking leave.

March 30, 2023 Update:

• The Center for Restorative Practices (CRP) has facilitated more than two dozen restorative circles to foster connection, belonging, and equity in the Amherst College community and beyond. That work includes circles for more than half of the 27 varsity sports teams.  
• During Fall 2022, the CRP offered extensive Restorative Circle Keeper Training to help shape culture and equity and resolve workplace and identity conflicts. More than 50 staff and faculty participated, in addition to students, parents, and alumni.
• The CRP has facilitated multiple circles focused on centering the experiences of specific identities and addressing harm and impact for faculty, staff, alumni, and students.
• In collaboration with partners across campus, the CRP offers circles for students who have been away from campus for academic and medical leave, and is developing circles for members of the community on gender and sex-based harms and training in restorative approaches for multiple constituencies.

12. Student Code. 

Also in keeping with an earlier commitment, the Student Code of Conduct will incorporate policies and procedures for identity-based harassment and discrimination, including explicitly on the basis of race. This work will be complete early in the fall 2020 semester.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• The Office of Student Affairs has primary responsibility for the development and implementation of a new section of the student code governing identity-based harassment. Student-on-student violations of the College’s anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies will be handled in accordance with the new clause. The addition to the code will be reviewed by the College Council, a shared governance committee made up of faculty, students, and staff; it will go into effect and be published in the spring 2021 semester.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• The Student Code of Conduct has been updated for spring 2021 to incorporate policies and procedures for identity-based harassment and discrimination, including, explicitly, on the basis of race.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• This is complete.

13. Statement of Academic and Expressive Freedom. 

The faculty will reexamine the Statement of Academic and Expressive Freedom at its meetings in the fall 2020 semester. The Committee of Six has already begun to address the request made by the Black Students Union to clarify that racial epithets and racial hate are not protected forms of expression.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• The Committee of Six proposed the addition of new language which was discussed in a committee of the whole session at the October 6, 2020, faculty meeting. In response, the Co6 sought written comments and questions from the faculty and amended the language that had been proposed earlier. A special faculty meeting on Tuesday, December 1, will be devoted to a discussion of the amended language. A vote is scheduled for the December 15, 2020, faculty meeting. Decisions about the statement are the purview of the faculty.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• The faculty amended the Statement of Academic and Expressive Freedom on December 15, 2020: “[The College] may also restrict disparaging or abusive speech (e.g., racial epithets) directed at an individual or group based on their actual or perceived affiliation with a protected class, and for which there is no reasonable academic, educational, or artistic justification.”

October 4, 2021 Update:

• This is complete.

14. Reimagine Policing. 

For some time, the College administration has been discussing a shift in the overreliance on the Amherst College Police Department in student life. Without a robust after-hours residential program, the campus police have served as the primary interface with students after hours and on weekends. This has created anxiety among Black students, in particular, but also others. We will shift some resources from ACPD, including student staff and funds for mental health services. We will also begin now to shift the supervision of residence halls and other student spaces to residential life and student affairs. A report on the impact of these changes will be available at the end of the fall 2020 semester.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• Responsibility for considering and developing changes in ACPD and the roles it plays on campus rests with Jim Brassord, Chief of Campus Operations, Chief John Carter, and appropriate members of the senior staff. Their deliberations will be informed by consultation with students, faculty, and staff. Chief Carter has already made changes by removing ACPD from the more central role it has played in monitoring activities in students’ residences and other student spaces. ACPD is no longer present in the residence halls unless called upon to support the CAs (Student Community Advisers) or CDCs (staff Community Development Coordinators) or to respond to police, fire or medical calls. Chief Carter has also initiated work with the Office of Student Affairs to reallocate funding used for armed, sworn police officers to (unarmed, unsworn) security to support residential life staff. This overall re-imagining proposal will be shared with the antiracism student advisory group and with key governance committees and will be made available for comment early next semester. Ultimate decision-making authority for recommended changes rests with the president and requires trustee approval. We expect discussion to last into the spring 2021 semester with decisions no later than the May 2021 board meeting.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• John Carter, Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety, and Jim Brassord, Chief of Campus Operations, have met with the faculty anti-racism leadership group and the student anti-racism advisory group to discuss the outlines of a possible plan. Chief Carter will soon begin sharing the plan and talking with campus constituencies in small groups.
• The proposed plan, based on input from multiple stakeholders (AAS, BSU, CODEI, anti-racism committees, etc.), proposes a more differentiated response strategy for the College that distributes ACPD's non-policing work, which need not be done by the officers, to appropriate campus partners, including OSA and Facilities. In addition, a new group of non-armed Community Service Officers (CSOs) will be created to perform much of the public safety, security, and service work with funds shifted over a reasonable period of time to the CSO program.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• The Campus Safety Advisory Committee is holding campus engagement sessions that are open to all members of the community (facilitated by Cambridge Hill Partners) and is meeting with individuals, departments, and organizations whose work directly intersects with campus safety (e.g., Director of the Counseling Center, Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety, Dean of Students/Interim CSAO, Associate Dean of Students/Director of Case Management, Title IX Coordinator, ACPD, ACEMS, Sexual Health Educators). In partnership with the Committee, the Center for Restorative Practices is holding a series of restorative circles all semester focused on "Reimagining Policing.'' The Committee is also collecting information about and assessing alternative campus safety models. Based on all of this input, the Committee will develop various options for campus safety structures and present these to Biddy and the senior leadership by the end of the fall semester. Those interested in learning more or contacting the committee directly can visit the Campus Safety Advisory Committee webpage.   

April 25, 2022 Update:

• We established the Campus Safety Advisory Committee a year ago in response to student activism in support of changes in the role of ACPD, including a push to disarm and/or abolish an armed police department on campus. The committee worked for nearly a year on a broad interpretation of what “safety” means to different members of the community and completed its report in April 2022. 
• I wrote to the community on April 18 about the recommendations of that report, outlining the Board’s decision at the April meeting to maintain a sworn, armed police department while also encouraging more efforts to define the roles played by these officers, as well as the roles of Community Service Officers (CSOs) and the Campus Safety Assistants (CSAs) housed in Student Affairs. 
• The Board also endorsed our efforts over the past year to reduce the number and presence on campus of armed officers. We will continue the critically important work of shifting the non-emergency safety functions out of ACPD and into Student Affairs, reducing the presence of ACPD on campus to circumscribed situations. We will identify and communicate the spaces on campus where there will be no armed police officers except in the case of an emergency or when no other resource is available. 
• As we continue to reallocate ACPD responsibilities, we will examine and assess the current structure and roles of the CSAs and CSOs to define their responsibilities more clearly, determine whether changes need to be made, and make available all necessary additional training to ensure that they are prepared and effective in their roles.
• We will create a new advisory committee that will include students, faculty, staff, and subject matter experts, charged with advising ACPD and establishing communication among all stakeholders on an ongoing basis. A charge and this group’s composition will be determined and communicated very soon.
• We will explore the best and most viable models for offering 24/7 safety coverage and care in a way that does not depend solely on ACPD.
• We will move routine transactions (e.g., picking up keys) out of Dispatch so that students do not have to enter the ACPD building to complete them.
• We will enhance the training undertaken by all members of ACPD to ensure that they are continually learning best practices to critically examine stereotypes and cultural assumptions. 
• The report also focused on how sexual misconduct and student mental health play a role in our community’s health and safety. On both of those fronts, we have already begun to act.

March 30, 2023 Update:

• Routine transactions (e.g., picking up keys) have been moved out of Dispatch so that students typically do not have to enter the Amherst College Police Department (ACPD) building to complete them.  
• Members of ACPD continue to train in best practices around examining stereotypes and cultural assumptions. This academic year, all police officers will have completed a 40-hour training in Crisis Intervention, an additional 24 hours of training in Trauma Informed Policing, Hate Crimes, Responding to Interpersonal Violence, 112 Degrees of Preventing Officer Crisis, and Legal Updates. The supervisory staff attended a training on High Performance Leadership. ACPD officers exceed the training requirements of the Peace Officer Certification and Training Commission (POST-C)
• The number and presence of armed officers on campus has been reduced, with the department moving from 14 sworn police officers to an authorized 10. 
• Non-emergency safety functions have been shifted out of ACPD and into the Community Safety Assistant program in Student Affairs.
• Spaces on campus where armed police officers will only be present in the case of an emergency or when no other resource is available have been identified.
• The current structure, roles and responsibilities of the Community Safety Associates and Community Safety Officers have been more clearly defined so that necessary changes can be made and additional training completed to ensure that they are prepared and effective in their roles.
• A new advisory committee has been established, including students, faculty, staff, and subject matter experts, and charged with advising ACPD and establishing continuous communication among all stakeholders.

15. Mental Health Support. 

Institutional racism takes a toll on the psychological and physical well-being of students, staff, faculty, and alumni of color. We will provide more resources for those who are struggling with the impact of racism. During the fall semester, the Counseling Center will launch a search for another staff member with expertise in racial trauma. The College is also applying to be a campus partner with the Steve Fund, an organization that addresses racial disparities in mental health practices and resources. We seek to participate in the fund’s Equity in Mental Health on Campus Initiative, a comprehensive needs assessment for students of color. The Counseling Center is also working to increase its tele-health resources.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• Primary responsibility for student mental health rests with the Office of Student Affairs. Amherst was accepted into the Steve Fund’s 2020-21 Equity in Mental Health Initiative. Director of the Counseling Center Jackie Alvarez and Counseling Center Psychotherapist Darien McFadden (team leads), along with Senior Associate Dean of Students Charri Boykin-East, Ernest Collins '23, Chief Student Affairs Officer Karu Kozuma, and Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion Angie Tissi-Gassoway recently participated in a two-day retreat with the Steve Fund and the other institutions that are participating this year (Stanford University, Pace University, University of Michigan, Michigan State, and Westminster College). The retreat focused on the steps necessary to support the mental health of students of color, including creating positive change in the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs that end up shaping policy, programs, and practice. Amherst’s team is now developing assessment tools and engaging the community in an effort to identify the needs and the gaps in support of students of color. This work will occur over the next two months. More opportunities for feedback will be announced soon; in the interim, please contact Jackie Alvarez or Darien McFadden with comments and ideas.
• In response to students’ identification of needs in this area, a search for a Racial Trauma Specialist is underway in the Counseling Center. The search committee members are Jackie Alvarez, Sarah Erickson (Associate Director of the Counseling Center), Darien McFadden, Eun Lee (Assistant Director of Workforce Equity and Inclusive Leadership), and a student representative, Arzoo Rajpar ’22. The committee continues to accept applications and plans to interview candidates in December. 

March 18, 2021 Update:

• In January and February 2021, the Steve Fund worked with the Amherst College team to analyze anonymized mental health data for our needs assessment. In March and April, the Steve Fund will host focus groups of students, faculty, and staff to further enhance its understanding of mental health support at the College. The Fund will also meet with offices that work closely with students of color, including the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Resource Centers, the Provost’s Office, Health Education, and Athletics. 
• The search committee for the Racial Trauma Specialist in the Counseling Center determined that the pool of candidates at that time did not meet the needs of the College and Amherst students. They elected to restart the search last month. The committee is meeting the week of March 15 to invite candidates for interviews, which they hope to complete by the end of March.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• The Steve Fund completed their review and provided a Needs Assessment Report to the College.  The report included 5 recommendations: (1) Identify and promote the mental health and wellbeing of students of color as a campus-wide priority; (2) Identify and build capacity of the "mental health front line"; (3) Engage students to provide guidance and feedback on matters of student mental health and emotional well-being; (4) Actively recruit, train, and retain a diverse and culturally competent faculty and professional staff; and (5) Institutional response to national events and translation to campus actions and plans. These recommendations align with the College's goals and actions, e.g., steps taken to increase the number of counseling staff and efforts to recruit and retain faculty and staff of color. We are in the process of reviewing the detailed report and identifying an action plan.  
• After a previous search in the Counseling Center did not move forward, Student Affairs engaged in further conversation with students to more deeply identify the needs of students and to redesign the position description in order to attract the best candidates that could meet our needs. The greatest need was for additional counseling staff who specialized in working with multicultural communities and addressing the specific needs of individuals of color. Two positions were identified to meet this need. One counselor was hired and started in the role this summer. The other position remains open and we anticipate completing the search and filling the position this fall.  
• This year New Student Orientation included several new components focused on mental health and wellbeing:  a schedule of centering and decompression activities designed to introduce new students to opportunities on campus that are available to reduce stress, to relax, and to enjoy the campus environment; a three-part series of presentations and workshops focused on introducing campus wellbeing resources and skills for supporting positive mental health; and education about navigating alcohol and other drugs on campus.
• The Counseling Center has introduced new discussion groups, therapy groups, and skills classes and workshops this year with the goal of providing students with a variety of ways to access support and to develop skills that will support their mental health on campus. 
• During September all incoming students attended in-person bystander intervention workshops facilitated by the Peer Advocates of Sexual Respect. These 23 workshops gave students the opportunity to practice intervention techniques related to a range of situations including issues related to mental health and bias. Students were asked to think about who holds privilege and power in particular situations and how that impacts intervention. 
• The Survivor Support Group for students who have experienced sexual violence has started based on student feedback. Sponsored by Health Education TRUTH!, Tell Your Story Through Art & Writing, a confidential, drop-in, online Survivor Support Group facilitated by Isabella Gitana of Survivor Arts Collective, is being offered at the request of students. 
• Student Affairs is focusing on wellbeing as a core component of its work and with the leadership of Amanda Vann, Director of Health Education, and Jacqueline Alvarez, Director of Counseling, is developing an action plan that will focus on proactive ways to improve student wellbeing on campus.  
• Information about resources for student health and wellbeing can be found on a centralized hub designed to assist students identifying resources to support their wellbeing.  

April 25, 2022 Update:

• As described in my February 8 message to the community, the mental health of all of our community members continues to be a top priority for the College and is very much connected to the anti-racism work at the College. Anxiety, stress, depression, self-esteem, academic concerns, and unstable mood are the top issues that bring students to the Counseling Center. We continue to build a comprehensive and integrated well-being program, led by OSA, focusing on physical and mental health care, health education, equity and inclusion, and educational resources. 
• This semester, Dr. Darien McFadden, the new director of the Counseling Center, has focused heavily on recruiting and hiring for open positions with a goal of continuing to increase the diversity of the Counseling Center staff. We are hiring three additional counselors and launching a Counseling Training Fellows program that will bring three post-doctoral fellows to campus to augment student support in the Center. The student-to-counselor ratio will improve significantly.
• We have introduced online scheduling at the Counseling Center. Students can now schedule two types of appointments via the online portal: initial assessment appointments and single-session appointments. The average wait time for non-crisis initial appointments is five days and, for psychiatric appointments, nine days. 
• We began a four-year partnership with the JED Foundation on February 1. (This is a continuation of our work with The Steve Fund.) The first steps include participation in the Healthy Minds Survey and completion of a Campus Mental Health Baseline Assessment. The survey will provide us with data about student mental health concerns and student engagement with and perception of college resources. Our student participation rate for the survey of 32.2 percent provides us with very solid data from which to work. We will receive national comparison data this summer.
• Mental health crises remain a critical area for which alternatives to police involvement need to be found. As I wrote to the community on April 18, we are bringing in a group of outside experts to help us develop alternatives to having ACPD as the go-to response to such crises. The Riseling Group's team will include a former police officer, a college president who spent her career in Student Affairs leadership, and a physician, among others. This expert group will meet with a range of campus constituencies, including the Campus Safety Advisory Committee, before making recommendations on mental health initiatives and responses to mental health crises. 
• Every Wednesday, students receive a newsletter from OSA highlighting well-being opportunities, including available resources, events, and vehicles for engagement and skill-building. We have also launched our in-person Wellbeing Wednesday programming.
• The Counseling Center hosts discussion groups, therapy groups, and skills classes and workshops.
• Information about resources for student health and well-being can be found on a centralized hub.

March 30, 2023 Update:

• Counseling staff at the Center for Counseling and Mental Health (CCMH) has been substantially increased. The average wait time for non-crisis initial appointments is now three days. For psychiatric appointments, the average wait time is 7.8 days, with a modal wait time of 5 days.
• Students can now schedule initial appointments and single session appointments themselves on the CCMH website.
• The CCMH hosts an expanded schedule of discussion groups, therapy groups, skills classes, and workshops.

16. Training and Education. 

Anti-bias training will be required at all levels, from the board of trustees and the senior administration to each major unit of the College, including all administrative and academic departments. Each member of the senior staff is responsible for ensuring anti-bias and anti-racist educational work in the departments within their divisions, reporting annually on the form that work has taken and the difference it has made. This is not, as some believe, an exercise in what to think, but our need to learn and to gain in self-awareness.

The College is currently piloting the First Year Connect program for incoming students in an effort to create a student community that has the skills to engage effectively with their differences. Over the course of this academic year, we will develop a comprehensive program of this kind for all students as well as a new orientation program that focuses on race and racism.

The athletics department will complete a strategic plan to address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in athletics by the end of the fall 2020 semester. This strategic plan will include, but not be limited to, ongoing initiatives, including anti-racism workshops for all coaches and the department’s partnership with Allen Hart to train coaches and student-athletes in restorative practices. The department will be held responsible for hiring a diverse coaching staff and coaches will be held accountable for recruiting student-athletes of color. The office of admission and financial aid will be asked to take up the question of how financial pre-reads might help in pursuit of this goal.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• The senior staff has completed two anti-bias workshops, led by Dina Levi, while also actively pursuing other ways to deepen understanding of racism and its systemic forms.
• The athletics strategic plan is on track to be done at the end of the fall 2020 semester. We expect the plan to be public in advance of the next three-month update on anti-racism updates.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• Senior staff continues to hold regular internal discussions of race, racism, and anti-racism.
• In support of the College's Anti-Racism Plan and the promise of educational equality, the Office of Financial Aid has begun a financial pre-read process for prospective students. Systems are being designed to support this endeavor, and we are making progress toward a summer launch. We aim to demystify and simplify the financial aid process for families of low income, first generation, and underrepresented populations. 
• The athletics DEI Plan is complete and will be made available to the College community shortly. The diversity of varsity teams continues to increase. For example, of the recruited student athletes who have been admitted this year to the Class of 2025, 42% identify as domestic students of color.  

October 4, 2021 Update:

• The Center for Restorative Practices is hosting a 3-part workshop for those interested in incorporating Restorative Practices into their workplace culture. This is an experiential workshop and will include the following topics: introducing RP to the workplace, skill building in navigating team conflict, using a circle practice for enhancing trust and community building.
• Human Resources and The Office of Workforce Equity and Inclusive Leadership regularly advertise training and education workshops in the Daily Mammoth.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• OHR has developed a set of core competencies that will inform staff learning and development. Information about this pilot and the streamlined annual performance management process was recently distributed by OHR.
• To complement the core competencies developed in OHR, ODEI has identified DEI competencies that will aid staff in supporting a diverse student body and contributing to an intentionally inclusive culture at the College. The DEI competencies are linked to development opportunities, both on- and off-campus. 
• This semester ODEI and the Office of Academic Engagement & Student Success (AESS) worked closely with STEM faculty to support students' attendance at the AACU conference on Diversity, Equity, and Student Success, presenting on their academic scholarship and research. 
• OICR has created and delivered more than a dozen workshops and trainings for student leaders and athletic teams focused on race, racism, anti-racism, and various other identity and social justice topics.

March 30, 2023 Update:

Academic Engagement & Student Success (AESS)

• Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF): This summer the Mellon Mays cohort of students worked closely with faculty member Jallicia Jolly, Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of American Studies and Black Studies, on effective preparation for graduate study. Over the last four years, we have connected MMUF programs and activities to a wide range of students from underrepresented groups, faculty from all MMUF fields, and staff.
• We have just announced a new Wade Fellow, Dr. Will Turner ’94, a practicing hospitalist and Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City with clinical and research interests in medical education and diversity in medicine.

Athletics

• We have made progress on racial diversity: 41 percent student-athletes of color, 42 percent in the first-year class, and 28 staff of color. DEI representatives have been appointed for each varsity team, and in August, we hired an associate Athletic Director for DEI & Compliance, reporting to both the Athletic Director and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and responsible for sustaining, designing, and implementing programs, curricula, support services, and policies which promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Athletic department and for the broader campus community.

17. Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 

Effective August 24, 2020, we will introduce the term equity into the Office of Diversity and Inclusion—it will now be the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Norm Jones will become the Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer. The titles of the Faculty diversity and Inclusion Officers and of Dina Levi will also change: Dina’s title will be Director of Workforce Equity and Inclusive Leadership. The Faculty Diversity and Inclusion Officers will become the Faculty Equity and Inclusion Officers.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• This is complete.

18. Transition from DEI Task Force to a Standing Committee

November 23, 2020 Update:

• This is complete. The President’s Task Force on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is now a permanent standing committee and will explore what would be entailed in becoming a shared governance committee of the College. The president and CEIO Jones are working on a formal charge to the committee and a process for the selection of committee members for the next academic year. It will continue its work in the spring 2021 semester with those who had committed to serving on the task force through this academic year.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• The membership of the Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (CODEI) is still being selected for 2021-22. Once that is set, CODEI will take up the questions of the history and future of the committee. We will look to clarify the work of the committee and revise the charge accordingly.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• This year, CODEI is co-chaired by Olufemi Vaughan, Alfred Sargent Lee '41 and Mary Farley Ames Lee Professor of Black Studies and Chair of Black Studies, and Angie Tissi-Gassoway, interim chief equity and inclusion officer.
• There are many groups and individuals across campus engaged in DEI initiatives that have a tremendous impact on our community. This semester CODEI is gathering information from partners across the College to centralize and coordinate efforts, find opportunities for synergy, provide support where desired, and consider what gaps may need to be filled.

19. Iconography and Representation. 

We will immediately establish a committee charged with reimagining our public spaces and ensuring that they reflect the diversity of our community and the achievements of our Black alumni and underrepresented alumni. The committee will issue recommendations at the beginning of the spring 2021 semester in time for decisions and, hopefully, some changes during our bicentennial year.

November 23, 2020 Update:

• A committee co-chaired by Chief Advancement Officer Betsy Cannon Smith, and Chief of Staff/Secretary of the Board of Trustees Bett Schumacher, and including Catherine Epstein, Norm Jones, Jim Brassord, Mike Kelly, Chief Communications Officer Sandy Genelius, and Senior Director of Advancement Administration & Planning Suzanne Newby-Estes has assumed responsibility for reviewing the many forms of representation on the campus, both historically and currently. On the basis of the inventory and a set of college guidelines for decisions about naming and representation, they will engage students, faculty, staff, and alumni in reimagining our public spaces and developing a plan that honors the many people and events that have given shape to the College. This larger representative group will consider the range of opportunities for such recognition and representation.  A catalog of named spaces, facilities, programs, and pieces is also being compiled as part of this project. Opportunities for involvement in this initiative will be announced early in the spring 2021 semester. Please share your ideas.

March 18, 2021 Update:

• A group of senior staff members, Mike Kelly, and Marin Amundson-Graham, Director of Donor Relations, is pulling together research materials, inventories, relevant policies, and current peer practices that will be helpful to a committee that will be appointed by the President and Provost to develop the principles that should guide the selection and use of names and forms of representation on the campus.
• As part of the College’s Bicentennial, the Native and Indigenous Students Association (NISA), led by Sarah Montoya ’21, initiated the design of a formal land acknowledgment plaque on campus. Installation is slated to occur in the fall of 2021.

October 4, 2021 Update:

• In June 2021, an initial working group charged with gathering background materials submitted a summary of similar work done at peer institutions, an inventory of named spaces at Amherst (with an annotated inventory of residence hall namings), a list of named prizes at the College, a report on current naming opportunities, a draft charge for a Principles of Naming and Memorialization Committee, and recommended revisions for existing naming policies and protocols. This fall, Biddy will charge a committee to undertake the next phase of work: to determine principles for naming and renaming spaces at Amherst College.
• Black Women of Amherst is a multimedia project designed to feature Amherst’s Black alumnae, illuminating their distinctive and influential contributions to the College and bringing their varied experiences and perspectives to light. The project will take the form of a live-stream alumni engagement session and six podcasts scheduled to launch February '22. It was conceived of in partnership with two Amherst alumni: Nichelle S. Carr ’98, a producer, former film studio executive, international lawyer, and chief content officer at a video content company, and Jason Gill ‘97, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at a live streaming company. The work is being guided by an on-campus steering committee. Approximately 60 alumnae have participated either through interviews or by submitting stories directly to the project.

April 25, 2022 Update:

• Having received a summary from the initial working group, our next step will be to charge a committee to determine principles for naming and renaming spaces at Amherst College.
• This group will also carry forward the work begun by Sarah Montoya ‘21 and the Native and Indigenous Students Association on a signage project recognizing the Indigenous communities on whose ancestral land our campus stands.

20. Other

• The Facilities department in collaboration with Finance and ODEI has developed a construction procurement program for capital projects that sets standards and goals for use of contractors that are owned by underrepresented and marginalized individuals. Furthermore, the program sets targets for the diversity of the frontline trades workers. The selection process of the construction manager for the Student Center resulted in a firm that is an industry leader in this realm.