During Fall 2020, President White championed for the Liberal Arts College Racial Equity Leadership Alliance (LACRELA) with the Race and Equity Center at University of Southern California based on a California Community College Alliance that was announced in the summer of 2020. The alliance for liberal arts colleges was established, and DePauw is a founding participant.

LACRELA provides the DePauw community with three primary resources:

Racial Equity eConvening Series

A 3-hour synchronous learning experience held monthly using Zoom. See below for the upcoming schedule.

DePauw's Diversity and Equity Committee facilitates interested faculty and staff to attend synchronously; 20 are randomly selected and sent Zoom connection instructions. Those not selected, and in fact all DePauw faculty and staff, will be able to watch the recording and review all materials asynchronously a few days following the live event. Use your DePauw credentials to access this Shared Drive to view or download the materials.

Racial Equity eConvening Series events and materials are not currently available to students.

Virtual Equity Resource Portal

A self-service repository, available 24/7 to all DePauw faculty and staff, which contains downloadable equity-related rubrics, readings, case studies, videos, slide decks, and conversation scripts.

This Portal is under development. Please check back for access instructions.

Campus Climate Surveys

Each April, LACRELA will administer either a student (in 2021), staff (in 2022), or faculty (in 2023) survey. Results are shared with member institutions in September. The surveys will focus on topics such as student or employee perceptions, encounters, satisfaction, and appraisals.

Additionally, member presidents will meet quarterly to confidentially share strategies, seek advice, and brainstorm ways to leverage the Alliance for collective impact on racial equity in higher education.

Contact Information

DePauw's Director for Center for Diversity and Inclusion Holbrook Hankinson serves as our LACRELA point of contact.

DePauw's Diversity and Equity Committee (DEC) oversees and administers our participation and maintains LACRELA information for our community. DEC is currently co-chaired by Bridget Gourley and Holbrook Hankinson.

LACRELA Racial Equity eConvening Series - CY 2022

(please login using your DPU credentials to access both the interest sign-up form and session materials)

Board Strategies to Achieve Racial Equity

Tuesday, February 22, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form

Session materials (COMING SOON)

Centering Racial Equity in Your Student Success Agenda

Tuesday, March 22, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form

Session materials (COMING SOON)

Chief Diversity Officer’s Role in Advancing Racial Equity

Tuesday, April 19, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form

Session materials (COMING SOON)

Classroom Incivility and Productive Conversations About Race

Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form

Session materials (COMING SOON)

Reducing Implicit Bias in The Search and Hiring Process

Friday June 10, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form

Session materials (COMING SOON)

Race Conscious Enrollment Management

Tuesday July 12, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form

Session materials (COMING SOON)

Communicating Institutional Progress on Racial Equity Goals

Tuesday August 16, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form

Session materials (COMING SOON)

Dismantling Persistent Racial Equity Problems in STEM

Friday September 16, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form

Session materials (COMING SOON)

Making Racial Equity Data Transparent

Friday October 21, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form (COMING SOON)

Session materials (COMING SOON)

Understanding Campus Unrest and Responding to Student Protest

Tuesday November 15, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form (COMING SOON)

Session materials (COMING SOON)

Using Assessment and Evaluation to Improve Campus Racial Climates

Tuesday December 6, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form (COMING SOON)

Session materials (COMING SOON)

Managing and Resolving Racial Tensions in the Workplace

Tuesday January 24, 2022, 12pm-3pm ET

Interest sign-up form (COMING SOON)

Session materials (COMING SOON)