Understanding the racialized police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ongoing national protests that have followed in its wake, is evidence for why colleges and universities need research centers to study and examine race and equity issues not only on our campuses, but in society in general.
University of Southern California’s Race and Equity Center led by Dr. Shaun Harper is perhaps the most visible and productive center in the nation, regularly churning out thought-provoking analyses and providing critical training through its Equity Institutes to higher education administrators who undoubtedly will have to address the Floyd killing and the spate of other shootings of unarmed Black men and women when students eventually return to their colleges campuses post COVID-19.
Now, the USC Race and Equity Center is preparing to expand and broaden its focus and work.
On Monday, Dr. Estela Bensimon—arguably one of the nation’s most prominent and prolific educational scholars—announced her retirement from USC and the merging of the Center for Urban Education (CUE) that she founded in 2000 with Harper’s Race and Equity Center. The merger will serve as a game changer for diversity, inclusion and equity work across the higher education landscape.
“I couldn’t have done it with anyone else,” says Bensimon about working with Harper. “I trust him, and I know that he will actually honor and protect the legacy of the center. I am lucky for this. Otherwise, I would have had to close it down.”
Thankfully, that won’t be the case.
When it comes to equity-minded work, Bensimon was a pioneer long before the term became trendy.
