Office of Equity and Inclusion – News

Imani Perry: What if digital activism, such as via Twitter, doesn’t really do anything?

Eleanor Vance '21 — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 19:24:31 +0000

Speaking to a �ֲ��ý audience on March 7, Princeton professor Imani Perry did what many would deem impossible: give a persuasive argument against social media to an audience of college students.

Perry, the 2019 speaker in the Office of Equity and Diversity’s social justice speaker series, questioned the effectiveness of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook in the age of online activism and social justice. “What if hearing and witnessing and circulating and retweeting doesn’t do anything?” she asked her listeners in the nearly full Olin Concert Hall.

The Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, Perry has both a J.D. and a doctorate in American civilization. An interdisciplinary thinker who looks at law, cultural studies, and African American studies, she’s published an extensive assortment of critical essays and reviews and, just in the past year, three books.

Imani Perry, the 2019 Social Justice Speaker, talks about the pitfalls of online activism on March 7. (Samuel Mironko ’21/�ֲ��ý College)

More recently, she said, she’s been interested in the backlash that follows movements for social change and how politics enters artistic expression.

In her talk, “Nice for What?” (named after a Drake song, to the amusement of her audience), Perry made a case for the reevaluation of technology and our relationships, as activists, to social media. She broke down the goods and bads of today’s social media landscape, from Twitter-trending violence and Facebook battle royales to “cancel culture” and the possibilities of social transformation.

Underlying these debates are questions of how we communicate with one another, the ways in which we disagree, and how we can transform ourselves and others.

The case for digital activism

Social media has reshaped the public sphere, Perry acknowledged.

“We’ve seen the use of digital platforms to open up discourse about social ills, inequality, and also function as a landscape in which networking around organizing is possible,” she said.

Providing examples from movements such as #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and even as far back as Occupy Wall Street, Perry credited social media sites as establishing networks among people who are doing similar work around the world.

“There’s a great deal of power and possibility there,” she said.

Police violence

Perry’s skepticism about social media’s effectiveness in activism dates back several years, when people began to circulate images and videos of police violence towards African Americans, particularly killings.

“I wasn’t convinced from the outset that they would change anything,” Perry said of such footage.

A protestor records video with her smartphone during an anti-government demonstration called by the Yellow Vests “Gilets Jaunes” movement in Nantes, western France, on March 02, 2019. (Sipa via AP Images)

Not only, she argued, did sharing the videos fail to create substantive change, but the witnessing of suffering itself potentially desensitized its viewers to violence and increased stigma.

“What was seen as a vehicle for possibility for drawing attention to an issue could not necessarily function as a vehicle for greater sympathy or moral outrage,” she said.

Conversation or face-off?

Speaking of an economy driven by social media traffic, Perry explained that “drawing our attention to an issue doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll interpret it in the ways it’s intended.”

Misinterpretations of social movements that become “Twitter famous,” such as #MeToo, can sometimes become as popular as the movements themselves.

Perry cited #ThemToo, a group of Twitter users who claim that sexual assault unfairly targets black men. It is misinterpretation that makes “the structure of digital activism so easily become a minefield,” she said.

Anytime someone posts on social media, the post is a replicable artifact that becomes “proxy for one’s identity…and even a form of self-marketing,” Perry said.

“Drawing our attention to an issue doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll interpret it in the ways it’s intended.”

So, when a post generates pushback, what happens is not a conversation, but what Perry identified as a “face-off” with a Battle Royale structure. Because someone’s post represents their identity, they tend to double down on their argument instead of opening up to criticism.

As a result, “the argument becomes a matter of who wins and who loses,” Perry said.

Though the arguments can seem incredibly trivial, Perry pointed out the larger implications of these online boxing matches. They “create situations where democratic spheres are easily morphed into spheres for amplified public humiliations, celebration of conflict, and gleeful insult,” she said.

Transformation, not cancellation

Perry’s biggest concern was the culture revolving around the “canceling” of those who say awful or offensive things online.

Perry identifies the punishment model of society as a reason behind this online phenomenon. Members of society tend to identify failure and oust those responsible for it. “To cancel someone is to cast them out,” she explained.

“Every time I see people being canceled I think, ‘What happened to transformation?’”

Pointing to a frequent Twitter phenomenon, Perry questioned the effectiveness of excommunicating or expelling individuals from online communities geared towards progress.

“Every time I see people being canceled I think, ‘What happened to transformation?’”

She continued, “What you want to do is seduce people into a vision of liberation they can share with you. It seems there’s something counterintuitive about the process of expulsion when what we’re trying to do is make revolution irresistible.”

So, while identifying online offenses can be useful, it can also halt any kind of transformation geared toward showing the offending individual the error of their ways.

As a possible remedy, Perry asked her audience to consider the practice of a transformation in which we can shape our community and individual relationships to incline toward justice and equity. “To what extent,” she asked, “are we willing to be transformed?”

Imani Perry speaks with a student at her talk on March 7. Perry encouraged her audience to think about how to engage in transformation. (Samuel Mironko ’21/�ֲ��ý College)

Perry concluded her talk by explaining philosopher Stanley Cavell’s idea of a “passionate utterance.” Unlike a “performative utterance,” which could be any social media post leading to a general conclusion, a passionate utterance “invites an exchange rather than invoking a procedure.”

Perry explained that this exchange is “essential to social transformation,” yet it is difficult to achieve on social media due to the superficial nature of Facebook and Twitter posts that so often fail to identify what the posters really mean.

The activist’s goal is to engage in a way that recognizes the messiness of life underneath the surface presentation of social media, Perry said.

“One of the things I’m recommending is openness,” she said.

Crystal Williams appointed associate provost for diversity and inclusion at Boston University

�ֲ��ý News — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 12:19:44 +0000

Crystal A. Williams, associate vice president for strategic initiatives and professor of English at �ֲ��ý since 2013, has been appointed associate provost for diversity and inclusion at Boston University, effective October 2017.

Serving as �ֲ��ý’ chief diversity officer, Williams has led the strategic expansion of programs to support institution-wide diversity and inclusion efforts for students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and has overseen the Office of Equity and Diversity, the Office of Intercultural Education, and the Multifaith Chaplaincy.

Crystal Williams, associate vice president for strategic initiatives, chief diversity officer, and professor of English at �ֲ��ý, has been appointed associate provost for diversity and inclusion at Boston University, effective October 2017. (Photograph by Brian Fitzgerald)

“Crystal has created strong institutional momentum toward fundamental, mission-driven goals. Her contributions at �ֲ��ý have touched many areas of college life, particularly the student experience and faculty hiring,” said President Clayton Spencer. “Crystal is remarkably talented in program design, and �ֲ��ý will continue to benefit from the strategies and programs she has put in place. I am grateful for the vision and creativity with which she has approached this vitally important work.”

“I am proud of what �ֲ��ý has accomplished as we seek to ensure that our practices, policies, and programs support both our mission and our institutional goals,” Williams said. “Today, �ֲ��ý is better able to provide members of our community with the tools they need to enact and embody the values that �ֲ��ý espouses.”

Williams added, “�ֲ��ý is such a wonderful community. I have enjoyed working with our students, staff, faculty, alumni, and trustees. I have learned how very important relationships are in this community — important not only to the personal endeavor, but to the collective one, as well. It’s been an honor to work in collaboration with so many wonderful and loving people.”

Williams has led efforts to translate �ֲ��ý’ institutional vision and priorities into sustainable strategies for supporting and strengthening the college’s mission-based culture of inclusiveness.

In announcing Williams’ appointment to the newly created Boston University position, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Jean Morrison said, “I am thrilled that we have succeeded in recruiting Crystal Williams to Boston University. Crystal has demonstrated her ability to work collaboratively and effectively to develop significant offices that promote, support, and advance an institutional culture of inclusion.”

Among various constituencies, including faculty and students, Williams has led efforts to translate �ֲ��ý’ institutional vision and priorities into sustainable strategies for supporting and strengthening the college’s mission-based culture of inclusiveness. As a thought leader and adviser, Williams has worked closely with colleagues to develop principled structures, practices, and programs to foster inclusive campus communities.

In the student realm, Williams expanded and reorganized the staffing of the Office of Intercultural Education, which develops and oversees student programming focused on diversity and inclusion. In 2014, the OIE relocated from a building on the campus periphery to a newly renovated and more central space in Chase Hall.

In addition, Williams has been the driving force behind significant new programming that has measurably improved the student experience, including Bobcat First!, supporting students who are the first in their families to attend a four-year college. According to a �ֲ��ý survey, Bobcat First! has enhanced first-generation students’ overall sense of community and their ability to develop friendships, adjust to academic demands, and understand faculty expectations.

Other student programs developed under Williams’ tenure include The Dinner Table, a prompt-based dinner and storytelling program that also has yielded increased college satisfaction rates among students; Lingua Franca, a structured forum for exploring important social topics at �ֲ��ý; SPARQ, peer mentoring, ally education, and targeted programming focused on specific LGBTQIA+ identities; and the Justice and Equity Reading Group.

Williams was part of the leadership group that conducted a major revision of new-student orientation programming, and she oversaw �ֲ��ý’ Working Weekend, a collaboration between the Office of Equity and Diversity and the Purposeful Work initiative, which brought alumni to campus to meet, mentor, and network with students from predominantly underrepresented groups. She oversaw the creation of �ֲ��ý Alumni Mosaic, which fosters stronger communities of alumni from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups and/or who are LGBTQIA+ identified and their allies.

�ֲ��ý students react to a storyteller during the December 2016 presentation of The Dinner Table, a prompt-based dinner program that helps students talk constructively across difference. (Andree Kehn for �ֲ��ý College)

A noted leader in diversity in higher education, Williams has spoken about the imperative to diversify the professoriate at U.S. colleges. She played a pivotal role in �ֲ��ý’ decision to join the Creating Connections Consortium (C3), an initiative funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that includes partnerships between four liberal arts colleges and selected research universities. On behalf of �ֲ��ý, she served on the C3 Executive Committee, collaborating with senior leaders at other U.S. colleges and universities to develop innovative ways to address collective challenges.

In 2015, �ֲ��ý hosted the annual C3 Summit, attended by more than 250 participants from colleges and universities across the country, including a number of �ֲ��ý students who were active in diversity and inclusion efforts on campus. She has served as co-chair for the Liberal Arts Diversity Officers, a consortium comprising senior diversity officers at 28 liberal arts colleges.

Williams’ leadership was instrumental in �ֲ��ý securing a $1 million Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Faculty Diversity and Renewal Grant that has supported new approaches to the hiring and retention of promising faculty from underrepresented groups. Since 2015, 13 of 25 newly hired tenure-track professors and long-term lecturers are from underrepresented groups.

The author of four volumes of poetry, Williams was one of 10 poets commissioned to write poems for the 2015 exhibition One-Way Ticket: Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series and Other Visions of the Great Movement North at the Museum of Modern Art. A recognized thought leader on diversity in the arts, most recently Williams gave the opening keynote for the Maine Arts Commission’s annual conference, and participated in the 2016 Equity Series at the Museum of Modern Art with cultural critic Vinson Cunningham and Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation.

Before coming to �ֲ��ý, Williams was the inaugural dean for institutional diversity and a tenured faculty member at Reed College. Williams will continue in her role at �ֲ��ý through Aug. 17, 2017.

The college will undertake a search for Williams’ successor during the 2017–18 academic year. Beginning this summer and extending into the fall semester when students and faculty return, college leadership will seek input from members of the �ֲ��ý community on the chief diversity officer role and parameters for the search. Meanwhile, the college is committed to ensuring continued progress and momentum on the issues and programs under Williams’ direction.

Gwen Lexow, director of Title IX and civil rights compliance in the President’s Office, will oversee the Office of Intercultural Education and the Office of Equity and Diversity for the 2017–18 academic year. Julisa De Los Santos, assistant dean in the Office of Intercultural Education, will serve as interim OIE director for the academic year, reporting to Lexow. Brittany Longsdorf, multifaith chaplain, will report to the president.

Kathy Low, interim vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, will take responsibility for the faculty-facing dimensions of the chief diversity officer role, working with colleagues to assign responsibility for active and inclusive searches, curriculum development, and oversight of the two Mellon Foundation grants relating to faculty diversity.

‘Working Weekend’ alumni say: Harmonize your interests, strengths

Lillian Christine '15 — Mon, 18 May 2015 17:57:29 +0000

“What gets you geeky?”

In other words, Larry Handerhan ’05 asked a group of �ֲ��ý students on May 16, what interests or ideas make you excited about what you do?

Larry Handerhan ’05 discusses his career path with students during the May 2015 “Working Weekend” program, co-sponsored by the Purposeful Work initiative and the Office of Equity and Diversity. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ��ý College)

Handerhan was one of the alumni speakers welcomed back to �ֲ��ý by “Working Weekend,” a daylong event designed to help students explore how to create meaning in one’s working life.

Co-produced by the college’s Office of Equity and Diversity and the Purposeful Work initiative, Working Weekend neatly braided together two driving interests of the college: preparing students for lives of meaningful work and giving them opportunities to engage with alumni representing diversity in breadth and depth.

Khairah Klein ’91, Stephen Gresham ’03 and Daniel Robarts ’04 joined Handerhan in the morning session “Aligning Yourself and Your Work: Interests, Experiences, Strengths.” (See the entire Working Weekend program.)

The watchwords of the session were “interests” and “strengths.” In combination, these two things — what you love to do and what you do well — give you the power to create a successful and fulfilling professional life. And what gets Handerhan geeky, as he explained to his student listeners, is bringing excellence to public service.

For Handerhan, alignment between self and work began at �ֲ��ý, where he explored social justice issues inside and outside the classroom. As a senior, he completed an honors history thesis on how the civil rights movement contributed to the gay rights movement.

After �ֲ��ý, he signed on with AmeriCorps, where he helped with disaster recovery after Hurricane Katrina. That experience inspired him to help make government more efficient. Handerhan is now a program manager within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Khairah Klein ’91 (at left), a teacher in New York City, was one of four �ֲ��ý alumni to share lessons from their careers during the 2015 Working Weekend panel called “Aligning Yourself and Your Work.” (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ��ý College)

“I immediately felt a connection to the idea that government should help, and I want to be a part of that,” he told the �ֲ��ý group. “So that’s where that interest in helping really turned into a professional value.”

By taking his interests to Washington, Handerhan was able to hone his strengths in consulting and administration.

He offered his listeners two takeaways. First, doing what you love and doing well financially are not mutually exclusive: You can have both.

Second, you can’t plan everything. Many times, career trajectories are nonlinear, and you should keep your options open.

In fact, a recurrent theme for the “Aligning Yourself” alumni was how one opportunity leads to another. When you put yourself out there by networking and staying active, career options open up in unexpected ways.

Robarts was a good example of how aligning interests and capabilities can lead to a meaningful working life. Robarts, who has worked for the USDA on plant genetics and is now at the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden, began in religion and music at �ֲ��ý, but soon dived into biology and neuroscience. A passion for plants brought him to Ohio State University, where he wrote his dissertation on the evolutionary development of pansies.

“Over time, it’s been a fantastic fit for me using all the skills that I’ve developed following my passion,” Robarts explained.

Klein shared her experiences as a schoolteacher at New York City’s Spence School. A political science major at �ֲ��ý, Klein said that politics helps with understanding and respecting differences in the classroom. Even though she felt she hadn’t graduated from �ֲ��ý with a concrete career plan, she did feel motivated by an enthusiasm for family and nurturing young children — which ultimately led her into teaching.

But not before she spent some time in retailing. Klein emphasized that although you may not know what exactly you want to do at first, you should jump in anyway and see where the next opportunity will lead you.

Stephen Gresham ’03 (speaking) was one of seven alumni to return to �ֲ��ý to help present the May 16, 2015, Working Weekend program. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ��ý College)

“It is important to do something that you love,” Klein said. Loving what you do is essential to overcoming a fear of failure.

Gresham, a double major in psychology and Spanish, now works for the Veterans Administration in Bedford, Mass. His Working Weekend story focused on finding places that welcome your identity.

Initially, Gresham didn’t feel compelled to work at the VA. What he discovered, however, was that if you venture outside your comfort zone, you encounter new dialogues in the workplace.

A successful career can depend largely on understanding that your voice is necessary to these conversations, even if your interests and strengths don’t align with the context at first.

“What I wanted to do was not only create spaces that were affirming and nurturing of myself, but serving a similar function for other people,” explains Gresham. “So that is exactly why I went to the VA — because it seemed unfamiliar. It seemed as though it was a conversation that was rumbling.”

Gresham’s concept of bringing new voices to the conversation reflected an objective that Associate Vice President Crystal Williams, �ֲ��ý’ chief diversity officer and director of the OED, had for Working Weekend. Certainly, one criterion for inviting alumni was that they be “particularly thoughtful about meaningfulness in their working lives,” explained Williams, who proposed the program to �ֲ��ý after witnessing a similar event in her previous position at Reed College.

But the project team was also intentional about alumni diversity. “We looked for age diversity, gender diversity, racial and ethnic diversity, first-generation-to-college status, geographic diversity, among other aspects,” she said.

And in the end, “we wove a nuanced tapestry of alumni together to create a program that was rich and sparked personal connections based on many things.”

Indigenous rights and environmental activist Oren Lyons to discuss sustainability

�ֲ��ý News — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 18:10:06 +0000

Chief Oren Lyons. (Larry Palumbo/Coyote Magic)

Chief Oren Lyons, a Native American leader and environmental activist, offers a lecture titled Peace, Power, Righteousness: Environmental Stewardship From a Native Perspective at 7 p.m. Monday, March 3, in the Peter J. Gomes Chapel, 275 College St.

Presented by the Office of Equity and Diversity in cooperation with other offices at �ֲ��ý, the event is open to the public at no cost. For more information, please call 207-786-6031.

Lyons, a member of the Onondaga and Seneca nations, is a Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan and a chief of the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee (“People of the Longhouse”).

Lyons attended Syracuse University on an athletic scholarship. A lifelong lacrosse player, he was a standout in the sport at Syracuse, was later elected to the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and today is honorary chairman of the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team.

Graduating Syracuse with a degree in fine arts, Lyons became a successful commercial artist. He later taught at the University of Buffalo, and was named a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and Professor Emeritus of American Indian Studies.

In 1977, Lyons was a founding member of the Traditional Circle of Elders and Youth, a council that seeks to infuse Native American culture into contemporary cultural and political discourse.

In 1982, he helped establish the Working Group on Indigenous Populations at the United Nations. He is the recipient of the United Nations NGO World Peace Prize.

He serves on the Executive Committee of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival. Among many other honors, he is a recipient of Sweden’s prestigious Friends of the Children Award, along with his colleague, the late Nelson Mandela.

Lyons was the subject of Oren Lyons the Faithkeeper, a 1991 PBS documentary by Bill Moyers, and appeared in the 2007 documentary The 11th Hour, a documentary on the state of the natural world and climate change, produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.

He is the author, co-author or editor of several books and has illustrated a number of children’s books.

Here’s a list of the �ֲ��ý and related offices and programs making Lyons’ visit possible:

The departments of history and athletics; the environmental studies program; the Harward Center for Community Partnerships; the offices of Intercultural Education and of Sustainability; the Learning Associates Program; the Multifaith Chaplaincy; and the �ֲ��ý Group of the Wabanaki-�ֲ��ý-Bowdoin-Colby Collaborative.

Crystal Ann Williams named associate vice president and chief diversity officer

�ֲ��ý News — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 17:34:35 +0000

Crystal Ann Williams of Reed College has been appointed associate vice president and chief diversity officer at �ֲ��ý.

�ֲ��ý President A. Clayton Spencer announced today that Crystal Ann Williams of Reed College in Portland, Ore., will become associate vice president and chief diversity officer effective Nov. 4, 2013.

Williams will oversee the Office of Equity and Diversity and the Office of Intercultural Education and serve as a member of the president’s senior staff.

Currently dean for institutional diversity and a faculty member in creative writing at Reed, Williams is a widely published poet and author who will join the English department at �ֲ��ý as a professor.

“I am delighted that we have found a person of Crystal Williams’ stature to lead diversity efforts at �ֲ��ý,” said Spencer. “She brings deep experience and passion to the task of reclaiming and refashioning for the present the commitment to inclusion that runs deep in �ֲ��ý’ identity and mission.

“That Crystal Williams is also a poet of remarkable depth and range will add dimension to her work in diversity, while enriching the intellectual community on campus.”

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Clayton Spencer and to join the �ֲ��ý leadership team,” said Williams. “I am excited and looking forward to working with students, staff, faculty and alumni to move the dial forward, truly honor �ֲ��ý’ tremendous history of inclusion, and collaboratively envision and set forth an exciting and innovative 21st-century agenda for the college.”

As chief diversity officer, Williams will be responsible for advancing the college’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. Williams will work with the dean of the faculty on academic appointments and retention, and with the Human Resources department on hiring and employment practices related to staff.

She will shape campus-wide initiatives and programming that promote a culture of inclusiveness as well as compliance with federal and state statutes and regulations governing nondiscrimination and equal opportunity.

Williams will work closely with Heather Lindkvist, �ֲ��ý’ Title IX officer, who has responsibility for all aspects of Title IX programming, training, and compliance, as well as issues relating to policies and practices concerning sexual respect and misconduct. The Title IX officer reports to the president.

At Reed, Williams established the first office for institutional diversity, developing a strategic vision and mission and institution-wide programs. Collaborating broadly with campus colleagues, she designed and put into place training and assessment processes to further diversity and inclusivity. She was instrumental in enhancing faculty search processes, which resulted in a 50 percent increase in faculty diversity in tenure-track hires in the last academic year.

Williams’ appointment as associate vice president and chief diversity officer at �ֲ��ý follows a national search carried out by a search advisory committee composed of faculty, staff, students and the president, led by Whitehouse Professor of Art and Visual Culture and of Women and Gender Studies Erica Rand, and Associate Athletic Director Gwen Lexow.

Associate Professor of Politics John Baughman provided staff support to the committee. The search included visits to campus by several finalists, who spoke in large forums and small meetings about their experience and vision for developing an environment of inclusion on campus.

Williams is a nationally award-winning poet and author of creative nonfiction. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including PEN America, American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, The Sun and Angles of Ascent: A Norton Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry.

Williams was raised in Detroit, Mich., and Madrid, Spain. Her fourth volume of poetry, Detroit as Barn, will be published by Lost Horse Press in 2014. She was appointed by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber to the Oregon Arts Commission.

Williams received a bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1997 and a master of fine arts degree from Cornell University in 2000. She joined the Reed faculty in 2000, where she taught creative writing and received tenure in 2007.

She has been appointed professor of English at �ֲ��ý on the recommendation of the Committee on Personnel and with the approval of the Board of Trustees.