Skidmore College announces Racial Justice Initiative
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Skidmore College recently announced its new Racial Justice Initiative, a year-long series of projects that seeks to address the realities of racial injustice locally, nationally, and globally.
New Skidmore College president Marc C. Conner introduced this initiative in his first-day message to the Skidmore community on July 1.
Drawing on conversations with students, staff, faculty, and community members, data gathered through a recent campus survey and leading national research, this effort aims to put Skidmore on an immediate path to making improvements that will create a community of trust, in which all members of the campus community feel welcome, represented, safe and supported.
The initiative is comprised of 12 distinct projects, all of which are intended to be accomplished in the current academic year.
The work of the initiative will complement the broader work of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Skidmore and will seek to achieve real and lasting healing and change, addressing long-standing concerns and current and emerging issues.
Through meaningful dialogue, collaboration, creativity, and thoughtful inquiries and engagements involving race and justice, Skidmore will seek to be a leader in institution-altering work that fosters an everincreasingly inclusive and supportive environment.
“Our connectivity and mutual dependence on each other have never been more apparent, nor have the terrible disparity in the U.S. for people of color and the stark inequities faced by many at this time. We — Skidmore, Saratoga Springs, indeed the entire country — face a time of trial, and it is up to us how we will respond,” Conner said in a press release.
Information and ongoing updates about the initiative will be posted on the college’s Racial Justice Initiative website at skidmore.edu/racialjustice, where a video of Conner’s full introduction of this initiative is available for viewing.