Brown faculty needs mandatory training on race and gender identity

UCS President Senior Sazzy Gourley has told The Tab that Brown faculty should have mandatory training on race, gender identity and mental health.

In an interview following Monday night’s special meeting about the University response to critical crises on campus, Gourley spoke about the frustration of students of marginalized identities at the lack of action against structural racism at Brown.

Recent crises of sexual assault, suicide and inclusivity were on the minds of students when they met for the discussion session.

“There is a “less-than-fully welcoming climate … on our campus,” according to a recent email from President Paxson, sent to students and faculty with the subject line, “Promoting a Diverse, Inclusive Academic Community.” 

Excerpt from President Paxson’s email

Though it is a step to acknowledge where the University has gone wrong, it is now important to turn attention to the plan of action to take in the future to ensure that students and faculty are supported and guided in the most meaningful ways.

This week, an event was held on campus where students and faculty discussed the University’s manner of intervention when moments of critical crisis arise and brainstormed an action-plan to make these responses more effective for the community.

Students participated in a facilitated conversation with Senior Alissa Rhee, UCS President Senior Sazzy Gourley, Graduate Student Anni Pullagura, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey, Dean of the College Maud Mandel and Associate Dean of the Graduate School Vanessa Ryan.

The Tab sat down with UCS President Senior Sazzy Gourley to get his thoughts and an overview of the event.
For those of us who could not attend the meeting last night, what was the premise of the discussion?

Monday night’s discussion took a critical look at how the University responds to moments of crisis. More specifically, we looked at cases studies such as the Ray Kelly protests, sexual assault over the past two years and the suicide on campus this past spring.  

These three case studies provided a framework for questions about Brown’s administrative responses and actions, which were facilitated through a fishbowl discussion on Monday evening.

Tuesday night’s event was more focused on action-planning and brainstorming ways in which the University can adopt more effective responding mechanisms.

At what point does Brown acknowledge that a crisis is present on campus? In other words, when does Brown decide to respond in moments of crisis?  

Since I am not an administrator, I cannot fully speak to this, but Russell Carey [Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy] spoke in great detail about it during the event. He referenced numerous factors that are taken into account depending on the premise of the crisis, who is affected and its scale.

Do you think that the students in attendance to last night’s meeting were a sufficient representation of the student population at Brown?

One issue with a lot of events such as these is how to get a representative cross-section of the student population at Brown to attend. Obviously attendance can always be improved, but ultimately the students organizing the event were providing a platform for peers to critically analyze these times of crisis and make recommendations for concrete improvements, and it is up to individual students to engage.

Why do you think that is?

It’s tiring for many students, in particular students of color, to continue having conversations about ways the University can do better without seeing a clear response and specific actions coming out of them.

It is interesting, because in addition to the issues themselves, this week’s discussion uniquely focused on specific mechanisms of communication between the administration and students, so many of the resulting action-items can directly impact future crisis communications from the University.

Have you heard about the demonstrations happening on various campuses across the nation this week? What are your thoughts?

We see similar trends in universities across the country in terms of concerns about how institutions are or are not acknowledging their role in perpetuating structural racism. Many universities that avoid engaging with issues related to racism, gender identity, ability, etc. show their inability to create an inclusive environment for students with marginalized identities.

In response to that lack of acknowledgement and failure to make recognizable progress, as students, we are forced to be our own advocates and repeatedly vocalize and demand our individual needs.

In the same vein, how do we make students of color feel safer on Brown’s campus?

As a white male student, I recognize my privilege within these conversations and cannot speak for any individuals or groups of students other than myself.

Many communities of color have expressed a number of concrete actions Brown can take, and there are a multitude of specific steps that the University can enact to be more inclusive and supportive for students of color. We can only begin to scratch the surface of that in this brief interview.

Often the role of supporting students of color falls disproportionately to the low numbers of professors and staff from marginalized backgrounds. On a fundamental level, this speaks to the need to hire more faculty and staff of color, so that we can have a more representative institution.

Another step is to implement mandatory training surrounding race, gender identity and mental health in order for all faculty members to better support and understand the needs of students struggling in issues within these and other areas.

Additionally, there is a need for significant increased institutional support for Brown’s centers — the Brown Center for Students of Color, the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center and the LGBTQ Center.

As discussed in this event, the University can also do more in terms of following up in responses to moments of crisis, especially when administrators are present, such as during open forums. In the case of tonight’s event, it would be great to see clear administrative action taken in response to the ideas that students have put together regarding the University’s response mechanisms during critical crisis situations.

What initiatives will be taken to promote more discussion between students and faculty regarding the school’s learning environment as a whole? Are there any upcoming events like this one that students should keep in mind?

Senior Kristina Lee, Senior Jessica Brown and Senior Justice Gaines, who were responsible for planning the event, will be formulating a comprehensive document that vocalizes the ideas that were brought up during Tuesday night’s action-planning.

The document will be available on the public event page and communicated directly to Russell Carey and Dean Maud Mandel. Though I am not entirely sure what their initial administrative responses will be to this event, hopefully there will be communication about how the action items are being considered and ultimately integrated into ways they approach these situations.

There is also a need to self-educate, which comes up a lot in social justice-related events, because the burden of educating others should not be placed on people of color. There are numerous campus resources available online [check out Bluestockings Magazine, OBSIDIAN Magazine] for students, faculty and staff to learn more about these important issues. There are also frequent MPC workshops as well as other panels and facilitated discussions that provide spaces to discuss and learn about social justice issues.