Student Affairs

Report From Race, Culture and Diversity Committee

Report From The Race, Culture and Diversity Committee

In the early summer of 2008, President Brosnan formed a College Committee to examine where the college was related to racial climate, culture and diversity. This original Committee named the Racial Climate Committee was comprised of students, faculty, staff, administrators and a member of the College Board of Trustees. The Racial Climate Committee met throughout the summer and decided that it would be beneficial to have an outside consulting firm perform a racial climate audit. The college chose the firm of Wilbron Institute and Mr. Brandon Wilson made a two-day visit to campus on September 24 and 25. His audit dated November 6, 2008 reported some of the common themes that consistently dominated discussion during his two-day visit. They included:

  • Use of insensitive/biased language
  • Presence of hate crimes/incidents
  • Apathy
  • Group conflict
  • Scapegoating
  • Uncertainty of change
  • Unwelcome guests
  • Community cliques

 The audit report also provided 9 recommendations for assisting the college in moving forward to improve inclusion and diversity. These 9 recommendations were:

  1. The creation of a student-information website with blog capabilities
  2. Form a bias-incident response team to respond to bias incidents and hate crimes
  3. Form a GBLTQ Ally Coalition with creation of safe-zones on campus.
  4. Commission Stop The Hate Training for the campus community
  5. Commission Hate Crime Training for campus security officers
  6. Develop a creed and/or statement of commitment to inclusion
  7. Found a MANRRS chapter at Delaware Valley College
  8. Make addressing hate and bias incidents a public exercise at the college
  9. Have athletes use discussion tools provided by Everyday Democracy to help resolve conflicts involving members of other sports.

During the 2008-2009 academic year, President Brosnan and others thought that the Committee needed to be expanded and to be more inclusive. The committee was expanded to 51 members. In addition the committee's official name was changed to: Committee on Race, Culture and Diversity. The expanded Committee met a number of times in the fall, winter and spring and members of the Committee were assigned to seven working subcommittees charged with examining the recommendations of the audit report and providing feedback as to whether the college should accept the recommendations as stated, modify them, or not put them in place.

The summary of the seven sub-committees reports are as follows: (they are recommendations at this time without timelines, action plans or budgets)

Student Information Website with Blog Capabilities - The sub-committee supported this concept but it was noted that it was important that a person and/or office be in charge of monitoring blogs and that the creation of a diversity statement on the web site be created as a quick link.

Form Bias Incident Response Team - The sub-committee recommended that a permanent Incident Response Team be formed; that the student handbook be revised concerning how bias incidents are handled; construct a web page that is directed at students who feel they are targeted; a standard procedure be established and followed by security when investigating bias incidents; adopt a policy that the campus community will be immediately informed of a bias incident; during week of welcome students should be made aware of policies regarding bias incidents.....

Actions taken to date....student handbook was revised by outlining the definition of a bias motivated incident and classifying it as a type one behavior, explaining the procedure for reporting bias motivated incidents and establishing a protocol for responding to these types of incidents....in addition a bias incident response team (student, faculty and staff) has been formed for the Fall 2009 semester. Finally during RA and OL training there were information sessions on bias incident reporting and protocol.

Form GBLTQ Ally Coalition - The sub-committee recommended that a Gay-Straight Alliance should be formed; recommend that the college should move forward with the creation of campus Safe Zones and that appropriate training be provided....

Actions taken to date....A Gay/Straight Alliance was formed in the spring of 2009. Safe Zones have been established in the Office of Student Affairs, The Health Center and in the Office of Student Support Services for the Fall Semester of 2009. Safe Zone training for the Office of Student Affairs personnel and other interested staff in August 2009.

Stop the Hate Training - The sub-committee recommends bringing a Stop the Hate Program to the campus and perhaps exploring ways to reduce costs of program by sharing with other colleges.

Hate Crime Training for Campus Security Officers - Committee felt that the report issued by Brandon Wilson was unfair to the Security Department and information was taken out of context. The Committee also recommended sensitivity and diversity training for the Public Safety Dept. perhaps using personnel and programs from the Pa Sate Police Dept.

Develop a Creed and/or Statement of Commitment to Inclusion - The sub- committee developed a Mission Statement for the college as follows:.... The mission of Delaware Valley College is to provide an intellectually stimulating environment, in which all forms of diversity are recognized as an essential component. Students have the opportunity to reach their highest potential and to acquire a quality education emphasizing hands-on experiential learning in Agriculture, Arts and Sciences, Business and graduate studies. The College prepares students for meaningful personal and professional lives and leadership roles in service to a culturally diverse community, state, nation and world emphasizing scholarship with good citizenship. We seek to cultivate within the Delaware Valley College community an appreciation of our rich cultural heritage, a thoughtful respect for individual differences, and the importance and necessity of life-long learning. The College is dedicated to cultivating our collective responsibility and environmental stewardship. Students are selected without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, economic status or veteran status

Actions taken to date...sub-committee presented the above mission in a preliminary report to the strategic planning committee on April 17, 2009

Found a MANRRS Chapter at Delaware Valley College - The sub-committee felt that the creation of a MANRRS chapter had to have student interest and support in order to come about. The college should support interested students in this endeavor.

Other actions of inclusion taken on the DVC Campus...The Student Government Board in the Spring of 2009 established a minority relations representative to sit on the SGB Board. In addition the SGB Constitution was amended to include among other things the establishment of the Minority Relations Council...The MRC will act as a liaison between any college minority relations committees and SGB, will act as a coordinating entity for all campus minority organizations and will elect a representative who will attend weekly SGB meetings.

The original Racial Climate committee was also charged to develop a strategic plan for race, cultural and diversity at Delaware Valley College. The Committee had their first meeting on Feb. 10 and met 9 times during the spring of 2009. The Committee will continue to work through the summer and fall to finalize this report. So far the following strategic initiatives have been listed in the Committee's Preliminary Report - Strategic Planning Subcommittee of the Committee on Race, Culture and Diversity( April 17, 2009);
  1. Put in place recommendations suggested from the Racial Climate Assessment Report
  2. Recommend statements related to inclusion and diversity in College's mission statement and goals.
  3. Put in place a plan for having a more diverse student body, staff, faculty and administration.
  4. Examine the curriculum to ascertain whether current courses increase awareness of and appreciation for cultural and social differences, as well as examine the need for additional new courses that also would address an appreciation for cultural and social differences.
  5. Put in place a plan to develop a welcoming, supportive and inclusive environment at DVC.

On Thursday, August 27, 2009 The President and Cabinet issued the following statement of support:

The President and Cabinet members fully support the work of the Committee on Race, Culture and Diversity and their commitment to help the college prepare our students for meaningful personal and professional lives, as well as leadership roles in service to our culturally diverse college community. We also stand ready to support their work to help cultivate within the DVC community an appreciation of our collective rich cultural heritage, their thoughtful respect for individual differences and their purposeful actions that will promote inclusion within the Delaware Valley College Community. All these steps will better prepare our students for the world of the 21st century and establish Delaware Valley College as a stronger and more effective educational community.

If you have any questions or comments please contact the co-chairs of the Race, Culture and Diversity Committee; Don Feldscher,  Special Assistant to the President, or John Brown, Vice President for Student Affairs.