Racial Equality

"arrival of the term "diversity" involves the departure of other (perhaps more critical terms, including "equality," "equal opportunities" and "social justice." -- Sara Ahmed, On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life

Read this powerful message from Black Staff members at Drexel to understand how profound the problems are and how urgent their redress.

Dear Drexel Leadership

Racial Equality and Inclusion for Faculty, Students and Staff

Drexel's Black Cultural Center
Build a new Ethnic & Disability Studies program
Hold Deans and Dept. Heads responsible for the diversity of their schools are departments

"Hispanic" is the term used in the data form

Recruit and retain Black and Latinx students, both undergraduate and graduate.

Expressed in percentages. Data published in the 2017-2018 Drexel University factbook

*"Hispanic" is the term used in the data form

Pacific Islander data not available

Pres. Fry's proposed Anti-Racism Task Force

"In the next week, I will appoint a university-wide task force to look at our practices across the entire University, both how we can more effectively support the Black community at Drexel and how we can eradicate racism in our policies and practices. This work will include recommendations for faculty and staff hiring, promotion and retention, curriculum review, campus-wide learnings, and resource allocation. The task force will have membership across the University, including students, faculty, and professional staff. We welcome our trustees and alumni to join us in this self-examination.

The work of the task force will include responding to the thoughtful suggestions and concerns that I have received from members of the Drexel community. Letters from our undergraduate students and the doctoral students in the Dornsife School of Public Health have offered good and timely recommendations. A coalition of faculty, professional staff, students and alumni provided particularly useful direction. And a letter to Drexel’s leadership from Black colleagues at the University laid out important lessons that we — particularly, white administrators — need to hear. I pledge that all of these issues will be addressed by the task force."

In a June 12 email, Pres. Fry announced the creation of a New Center for Black Culture

"I have heard from many of our Black students a sense of frustration that they are not fully comfortable on our campus. As a first effort to address this, I am calling for the creation of a Center for Black Culture at Drexel. This new center will serve as a hub of information, activity, and community for the entire campus and will seek to increase knowledge of the peoples, histories, and cultures of the African diaspora and its many contributions to the world. Programs and services offered through the Center for Black Culture will be open to all Drexel students, faculty, professional staff and alumni who want to engage with and gain a greater understanding of the Black experience. It will be a partner resource to the Student Center for Diversity and Inclusion. Kim Gholston and Senior Vice President for Student Success Subir Sahu will provide co-leadership of the space, and they will be guided by an advisory board with broad representation from the campus community. In particular, we will seek leaders among our Black students, faculty and professional staff to be part of the visioning and leadership as this new center moves forward. We will convene a group this summer to begin working on all aspects of opening up the center, including establishing a connection to academic programs of study. I look forward to sharing more about the Center for Black Culture over the next few weeks and months."