Today, as part of the observance of #ShutDownSTEM and #ShutDownAcademia, the Hub group of the Bay View Alliance, a network of ten research universities in the U.S. and Canada, affirms its commitment to foreground explicit work on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The BVA’s mission is to explore institutional change strategies to support and sustain the widespread adoption of instructional methods that lead to better learning for all students. In fall 2019 we began a transition from a general focus on improving classroom pedagogy to work that more explicitly acknowledges barriers to success and inclusion for some groups of students and faculty. Key among those barriers are the long-standing toxic effects of racism.
During our June 2020 Steering Committee meeting with representatives of our member campuses we accelerated action planning for this transition. We urge our colleagues to take every opportunity in the coming days to listen deeply and continue to consider how to embed principles of equity and inclusion in our shared work. Let us work to bring about cultural norms that demand teaching methods equitably reflecting our growing understanding of the full diversity of students’ needs, backgrounds, understandings, and wishes.