The Council on Racial Justice is responsible for advising the Provost, the Vice President for USF Health and the President on any matters that pertain to racial justice, racism and anti-blackness manifest at USF or in the University's activities, as well as educational and research activities at USF that focus on racism and anti-blackness in the community, nation, and world. Its responsibilities include:
1) Developing an agenda to foster activities at USF that enhance education and research
that address racial justice, systemic racism, and anti-blackness;
2) Identifying and reviewing metrics to evaluate USF's performance in addressing
issues of racial justice, systemic racism, and anti-blackness through education and
research;
3) Review and make recommendations regarding USF's performance internally concerning
issues of equity, systemic racism, and anti-blackness (e.g., student admissions and
student success; and faculty, staff, and administration hiring, retention, and promotion);
and
4) Work with the Faculty Senate and its councils to address issues of racial justice,
systemic racism, and anti-blackness in matters within the purview of the Faculty Senate
and its councils.
In 2021, which was the inaugural year of this council, we focused our efforts on addressing current legislation which was recently passed by the state and impacts civil discourse, academic freedom, and the cultural climate of USF. We drafted a resolution, which was endorsed by the full faculty senate which outlined our concerns and specifically asks for the University, which included strategies for how USF could navigate these new laws. We also partnered with the Research Council to investigate strategies for equity concerning research grants and initiatives at USF. And developed two sub-committees (The Research and Education subcommittee and Equity and Racism at USF subcommittee) to address specific needs about social justice at USF.
Currently, the CRJ is headed by Chair Kyaien O. Conner, PhD, Associate Professor College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, Tampa Campus.