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Conference draws faculty, students to Mason Square to share a vision for an inclusive, anti-racist future

Colleen Rich — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 21:02:42 +0000

Conference draws faculty, students to Mason Square to share a vision for an inclusive, anti-racist future Colleen Rich Wed, 10/26/2022 - 17:02

George Mason University’s first Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) Conference celebrated both the impact of research and the shared goal of shaping a more equitable future.

The Research Panel: Conducting Research through and Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Lens. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

“There’s so much research happening today—and this is the beauty of this conference,” said keynote speaker Gail Christopher, executive director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity and a senior scholar in Mason’s Center for the Advancement of Well-Being. “We can do the research to change the narrative to drive new stories, to amplify those new stories, to demystify and refute the fallacies. Research is an important part of getting rid of antiquated beliefs.”

More than 400 people attended the Monday conference either at Mason Square or virtually. Sharnnia Artis, Mason’s vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion, marked the event as a milestone for one of Mason President Gregory Washington’s signature objectives. Artis, who facilitated the Mason groups that planned the conference, also served as emcee.

Washington launched ARIE within weeks of arriving at Mason in July 2020 to root out any biases in Mason practices and policies with the ambition that Mason would become a national exemplar for inclusive excellence. Mason is the seventh most diverse public university in the country—and the most diverse public university in Virginia— according to U.S. News & World Report.

Anne M. Kress, president of Northern Virginia Community College (left) with Mason's Sharnnia Artis. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

“There is a generation coming behind us—68 million people of the most diverse group of individuals that this country has ever had,” Washington said in opening the afternoon session of the conference. “They’re going to inherit the country, and they’re going to have to know how to deal with an environment that’s diverse. They need to be prepared to deal with one another.”

Washington later welcomed Northern Virginia Community College President Anne M. Kress and Virginia State University President Makola Abdullah for a presidential panel on advancing anti-racism and inclusive excellence in higher education.

The morning panel focused on conducting research through that lens. It featured three Mason professors and panelists from Harvard and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Charles Chavis, director of Mason’s John Mitchell Jr. Program for History, Justice and Race, noted that he had returned the previous day from a research trip with students to the Maryland Eastern Shore to work with descendants of racial violence. He talked about treating research subjects as collaborators and partners and empowering them to tell their own story.

Mason students shared their research during the poster session. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

“I see what we do as service first,” Chavis said. “And in that service our research needs and our research focus really is birthed out of the expressed needs of those we’re serving.”

During that morning panel, Jerome Offord Jr., Harvard associate university librarian for anti-racism, said he isn’t looking for allies in the cause. He’s looking for “co-conspirators.” That term caught on in the room came up throughout the day.

“This is not just a BIPOC issue,” Offord said. “This is an us issue. I need people who are going to take the risk professionally, personally, academically. People have to be willing to be in the front of the center conversation with me, not in a break room supporting me, not sending me emails saying ‘great job.’”

On an afternoon panel about translating research into action, Mason professor of integrative studies and history Wendi Manuel-Scott used the Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial as an example. The memorial, dedicated earlier this year, came about after five students set out to learn more about the people George Mason IV enslaved at Gunston Hall.

Manuel-Scott said that early in her teaching career she used to get “blank eyes” from students when she talked to them about civil rights actions.

Mason President Gregory Washington chats with students during the poster session. Photo by Stephanie Aaronson/Office of University Branding

“Today, I don’t get blank eyes,” she said. “Students are incredibly engaged and passionate and fearless. That is everything. Don’t lose that audacity, don’t lose that courageous spirit. Continue to ask those questions. Because the memorial that you see today would not exist if our students hadn’t been willing to ask the questions that they asked and challenge us as faculty members to step up.”

Student and faculty researchers across disciplines displayed about 40 posters highlighting research related to anti-racism and inclusive excellence.

Christopher noted that it takes more than passion to eradicate racism. It requires realistic strategy and creativity to assess the challenges, particularly in the age of disinformation.

“It’s a matter of grace and it’s a matter of love and understanding that we’re all on this journey, and we’re each at different places,” Christopher said. “There are extremes, and some people will stay at their extreme no matter what. But there is a wide swath in the middle, and our job is to mobilize that middle and to do so with great intention.”

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Strategic Direction

Trent leads new White House Initiative on HBCUs

Colleen Rich — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 18:39:33 +0000

Trent leads new White House Initiative on HBCUs Colleen Rich Wed, 03/09/2022 - 13:39

Dietra Trent. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Strategic Communications

Dietra Trent, special advisor to George Mason University President Gregory Washington, has been named executive director of the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity Through Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). She started Feb. 28.

Trent, who also served as chief of staff for Interim President Anne Holton during the 2019-20 academic year and was a key driver of Mason’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) Task Force, was previously Virginia Secretary of Education.

“I’m truly honored to have been selected to work in this capacity in the Biden-Harris Administration and for Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona,” said Trent, a graduate of Hampton University, a Virginia HBCU. “I look forward to promoting HBCUs across the country and sharing the history and excellence that come from these colleges and universities. It’s a great opportunity.”

Trent also served as Mason’s interim vice president for Compliance, Diversity and Ethics, and was pivotal in establishing ARIE, one of Washington’s signature initiatives. ARIE, with a university-wide task force of more than 100 members, harnessed and expanded Mason’s existing equity and inclusion efforts to root out systemic discrimination and racism at the largest and most diverse public university in Virginia and establish Mason as a national exemplar in anti-racism and inclusion.

“Dietra was given a number of challenging initiatives to successfully launch and manage, and she did a tremendous job,” Washington said. “In a relatively short time as a Patriot, she made a profound positive impact at Mason with work that is now embedded in the fabric of our university.”

Trent’s new role likely will intersect with Mason on occasion. Under Washington, Mason launched the Hire-Excellence and Diversity Institute (Hire-ED), a partnership with Virginia HBCUs Norfolk State University, Virginia State University, and Virginia Union University. Hire-ED connects graduates to career opportunities in high-demand industries.

Trent served as Virginia secretary of education under Gov. Terry McAuliffe, deputy secretary of education under Gov. Tim Kaine, and director of constituent services under Gov. Mark Warner. Her charge now is to work with the Executive Office of the President and Secretary Cardona to eliminate barriers faced by HBCUs. She will lead priorities focusing on government policies, projects, and programs that serve HBCUs.

“The one thing HBCUs do better than any other university in the world is teach leadership,” Trent said. “Not only do they have incredible leadership programs, but they embed leadership, excellence, and service in every course. I often say that I earned my master’s and PhD from VCU. But I got my education from Hampton University.”

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Faculty and Staff News

President's Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence

Mason students well-positioned to fight for social justice, equity

Melanie Balog — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 21:32:03 +0000

Mason students well-positioned to fight for social justice, equity Melanie Balog Fri, 01/29/2021 - 16:32

Mason students and President Gregory Washington (bottom center) during a panel discussion at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Evening of Reflection on Thursday, Jan. 28. The event was hosted by the Coalition Building and Diversity Education, and co-hosted with University Life, Welcome2Mason, the Center For Culture, Equity, and Empowerment, Mason Votes, and Student Engagement for Racial Justice. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

Students living in this era of racial reckoning and political unrest have far more resources at their disposal than social justice advocates had a half-century ago, George Mason University President Gregory Washington told a student panel at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Evening of Reflection on Thursday night.

“We are in a difficult time – but we’re in a great time,” Washington said during the virtual event. “We are indeed the embodiment of Martin Luther King’s dream. And while we have a lot of work to do . . . that dream will be fulfilled.

“He had the tools of his day, and those tools were nonviolent protests. We have nonviolent protests as a tool. But we have economic empowerment. We have political empowerment. We have other tools that we can employ to help people – all people – today.”

Washington’s nearly hour-long question-and-answer discussion with a panel of students, and the annual Spirit of King awards ceremony, highlighted the Evening of Reflection, which also included performances from the School of Music. The evening’s theme of “a burning house” alluded to the concern King once stated about how he might be “integrating into a burning house.”

Washington, reminding students that King added that social justice advocates should be the firefighters suggested that parts of the house might need to be destroyed but other parts just need to be repaired and remodeled. And Mason students can help lead the way.

“From a learning perspective, this is the greatest opportunity that I’ve seen easily in the last 30 to 40 years,” Washington said. “Our system, our way of life, is being stressed in such a significant way that we’re learning things about the inner workings of our government, the inner workings of our legal system.…and how they are stratified in order to continue to support and maintain the country in which we live.

“I firmly believe that we’re going to be a better nation because of what happened. A big part of helping us do that is the actual academic institution. We get to study this. We get to learn from it. And we get to debate it and put it out there for the world to learn.”

The student panelists were particularly interested in the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force that Washington established during his first month at Mason to make the university, as he said Thursday night, “a beacon to the country on what inclusive excellence means.”

The task force will conduct town halls Feb. 23 and March 4 to discuss findings and recommendations.

“We all have to come together and lock arms and make sure every single student here, regardless of who you are, gets what you need,” Washington said. “That’s what equity is all about. Equity is not about treating you all the same. It’s about giving you what you specifically need in order to be successful.”

Six members of the Mason community and one organization were honored with Spirit of King Awards for their roles in carrying out King’s vision today. They were:

Resounding Voice Award: Shauna Rigaud, PhD candidate in cultural studies

Emerging Alumni Award: Janae Johnson, assistant director, University Information

Superior Service Award: Black Student Alliance

Yara Mowafy Award: Ayah Abdelghany, information systems and operations management major

Spirit of King (student): Malek Salhab, neuroscience major

Spirit of King (staff): Kheia Hilton, staff clinician, Counseling and Psychological Services

Spirit of King (faculty): Richard Craig, MA director/faculty, Communication

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