Racial Equity Action Plan
Marymount Manhattan College has a responsibility as an institution of higher education to confront the role of institutions in perpetuating racial inequity, to consciously create an inclusive community that honors the experiences of people of color, and to interrupt racism whenever we witness it.
At the advisement of President Kerry Walk’s as stated in her communications to the Marymount Manhattan College community on June 15 th , 2020 faculty and staff leadership are to develop and implement ways of actively dismantling policies and practices that unknowingly perpetuate racism at the College, and to focus on building intentional spaces to support our communities of color. To that end, the commitment of each of MMC’s academic divisions and departments is essential for effective and lasting change to occur.
Feedback received from members of the Marymount Manhattan College community – Students, Faculty, Staff and Alum – have indicated that the college has not sufficiently worked to deliberately develop systems to achieve racial equity. The goals for achieving a racially diverse, inclusive and equitable institution must be explicit and operationalized.
What Does Racial Equity at MMC Look Like?
Racial equity cannot simply be rhetoric but must be backed up by action. Saying equity is not the same as doing equity. The point of this plan is to see results from our spoken commitment. Higher education unfortunately is not immune to the racial inequity that exists in U.S. society. As an industry that prepares students to become leaders in our greater global society, we must model what effective anti-racist practices can look like by working to eliminate institutional, polices, practices and procedures that may unknowingly perpetuate racism. The successful functioning of our college relies on communication and support from one another. So too will this work. For this reason, each academic and administrative division will work to advance racial equity in their respective areas through the development of goals and action items. This work is not a short term project but rather part of the evolving culture at Marymount Manhattan College.
Strategic Framework
The framework of this Action Plan will assess 4 key strategic pillars:
- Strategic Pillar #1: Access and Opportunity
- Strategic Pillar #2: Curriculum and Teaching
- Strategic Pillar #3: Learning and Development
- Strategic Pillar #4: Accountability
Structuring the plan around these pillars will help to ensure that the work is fully embedded in multiple areas. The development of the plans are being steered through the President’s Task Force for Racial Equity. To ensure community accountability, each academic division plan will be accessible on this page by early December 2020. We look forward to sharing this path forward with the MMC community.