Working Group Report

• “As a person of color, I felt that it is incredibly important to acknowledge the current state of our institution regarding how we treat our people of color on campus. We’re filled with racism, micro aggression, sexism, and we were using the conference as a damage control.” (a student voice)
• “Diversity equals different points of view. To have a healthy discussion about any issue, the variety of people has to be proportional, and it’s not. Staff at Smith is predominantly white, especially management.” (a staff voice)
• “...desire a space in which I am comfortable being myself and I don’t censor my sexual, religious, or ethnic identity.” (a faculty voice) 

Smith is committed to being a community that is welcoming to people of diverse identities and backgrounds. Yet, the survey data reveals a gap between that image and the daily experiences of many campus community members. This experience reveals itself in a number of ways. Many respondents commented on the fact that there are too few people of color in the faculty, staff, and administration. The survey responses also revealed that not all members of the Smith community feel equally valued or equally comfortable being their authentic selves. Each of us possesses more and less visible dimensions of identity that are not always acknowledged or respected.

This action theme is about closing the gap between the promise of acceptance and the lived realities of many at Smith by expanding the community’s appreciation of diversity and understanding of intersectionality, and finding more ways in which to uphold the value of difference at Smith.

• “Sometimes professors and most students look to me to be the 'voice of reason' or the expert whenever matters of race are involved. As a first year, this is distressing.” (a student voice)
• “I don’t know who to talk to in order to improve.” (a faculty voice)
• “I still have a lot of learning to do in how to create an inclusive space.” (a staff voice)

A key strength of Smith is the level of enthusiasm and dedication that members of the college community feel about the educational mission of the institution. Survey data underscores that many students, staff, and faculty want to see increased learning about difference on campus. This includes teaching all students through the lens of equity and inclusion. It also means addressing the role that unconscious bias plays in interactions at the college. There is a clear desire for more learning opportunities that break down barriers between students, staff and faculty, and for capacity-building opportunities that help improve sensitivity to inequities, while also instilling the ability to communicate about difficult issues and collaborate for positive change.

This action theme is about promoting a growth mindset and attitude of life-long learning regarding equity, inclusion and diversity.

• “...desire for more transparency.” (a staff voice)
• “...feeling ‘out of the loop’ in important decisions at the department or college level.” (a faculty voice)
• “Students are excluded from the decision process/conversation of choices that directly impact us.” (a student voice)

A key takeaway of the summer working group is that the college needs to get the message out that inclusion results from a communal effort and is a dynamic, ongoing process. Many survey respondents cited a need for greater transparency in official college communications about inclusion and diversity--both in terms of what’s lacking and what’s being done. Some would like the college to focus more on remedying structural inequities at Smith in contrast to calling out the behavior of individuals. Overall, respondents want the administration to improve information sharing about ongoing inclusion work at Smith, including affinity housing, inclusive teaching, and peer mentoring.

This action theme is about raising college-wide awareness of our structural problems, encouraging communal efforts to solve those problems, and creating clear processes for expressing concerns and sharing ideas for improvement.

• “...discourse in general is less civil or productive when groups (e.g. students and employees) may be working separately from one another, communication breaks down between groups, and when assumptions are made erroneously.” (a faculty voice)
• “I think there’s a tendency to silo ourselves into factions based off identity and beliefs and values, which is typical. In inclusion, we can say all we want about dialogue and having conversations, but no one wants nuance.” (a student voice)
• “It seems like there is often a lack of listening, and much more of a desire to find the faults of someone or something.” (a staff voice)

Students, staff, and faculty are eager for more opportunities to interact across differences, including events and activities that help break down barriers among people of various identities and experiences on campus. Survey respondents were critical of equity and inclusion efforts that seem merely performative. Instead, they’ve expressed the hope that conditions can be created for genuine relationship building. This would have to happen across multiple dimensions of diversity including race, gender, sexuality, age, class, religion and political belief, among others.

This action theme is about acknowledging that while diversity is a fact, inclusion is an act. Representation is only a start. The ways that we treat one another are true indicators of our inclusiveness. Members of the campus community need to feel more engaged in the work of inclusion and equity as part of their own sense of purpose and belonging.

• “I feel like Smith has not done enough for marginalized students such as undocumented students, poor students from extremely low income families, students of color and lgbt identities. Personally, I do not feel as encouraged as other students at Smith specifically due to my ethnic background, socioeconomic background, and my experience as a woman of color.” (a student voice)
• “I did not hear any voice from the Smith administration that acknowledged the hurt and pain from the summer event that prompted outcry from the student body and which was the original impetus for having an institutional response in the form of the inclusion in equity day.” (a staff voice)
• “...having each person feel empowered to navigate those challenges as they arise, in a way that does not take a toll on any individual or group of individuals, especially not weighing more heavily on people with marginalized identities.” (a faculty voice)

Many survey respondents observe that the college needs to do better with regard to promoting justice. Some expressed a desire for the college to become a haven in which students, staff, and faculty marginalized in the wider community can feel safe and be valued as integral at Smith. Others pointed to a need for tolerance for mistakes and missteps as the community works to remove obstacles to inclusion. Examining the history of exclusion at Smith—the specific harms done by racism, classism, and other forms of discrimination—as well as the structures that maintain inequities, is a necessary step toward healing, survey respondents said. Many cited a need for more resources and supports for low-income, undocumented, transgender, first-generation, and other marginalized members of the Smith community.

The working group has been guided by not only community voices but also two equity and inclusion scholars: Beverly Daniel Tatum reminds us that the ABCs of inclusion are affirm identity, build community, and cultivate leadership. D-L Stewart reminds us that justice is central to the work of community building, as follows:

• Diversity asks, “Who’s in the room?”
• Equity responds: “Who is trying to get in the room but can’t?”
• Inclusion asks, “Has everyone’s ideas been heard?”
• Justice responds, “Whose ideas won’t be taken as seriously because they aren’t in the majority?”

This theme is about finding ways for Smith to walk the walk as an inclusive community.