Dr. Shaun Harper, executive director of the University of Southern California’s Race & Equity Center, couldn’t sleep on Saturday night as he looked at his inbox full of emails from college administrators asking for guidance as anti-racist protests spread across the country. He got up at 3:30 a.m. the next day and sent an email to all 115 community college presidents in California.
That message launched the California Community College Equity Leadership Alliance, a new partnership between more than 60 community colleges to combat racism on their campuses.
“Here is a way we can take a united stance against racism,” Harper said. “Beyond simply proclaiming that Black lives matter and racism is bad, beyond the statements that each of you has written to your campus communities. Here is a specific set of actions … we can take together as an alliance to actually confirm that Black lives matter, to actually confirm that racial equity is important beyond the trendiness of saying so in this current moment.”
An “epiphany” born five months ago, but delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Harper wants to address racial inequity at California’s community colleges “more efficiently and more effectively” than fielding individual requests for help.
After the death of George Floyd – a Black man in Minnesota who died in police custody after an officer kneeled on his neck – that work took on an extra sense of urgency, with Black students and staff frustrated by university statements of outrage without concrete action plans, he said. So, the alliance is designed to help California’s community colleges design and implement proactive strategies.
“This is what action looks like,” Harper added.
Colleges in the alliance will each pay the Race & Equity Center $25,000 a year to be part of the alliance, and in return, they will have access to specialized tools, resources and guidance.