Hundreds of protests have been organized across the United States and around the world demanding attention to racial injustice. Communities are calling for action, insisting that we — individually and collectively —take a definitive stand against racism, speak out for racial justice, and embrace the plain truth that Black lives matter. The murder of George Floyd and the tragic deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others, have incited outrage, and we believe this anger is warranted.
Our country's current unrest takes place in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, and all evidence points to the ways that communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by this global health crisis. Our health systems, our criminal justice systems, our political systems, and even our educational systems cry out for reform, and that reform begins with the eradication of systemic racism.
The Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences values diversity, equity, and inclusion as a core strength and essential element in the success of its mission. We strive to create an environment where respect for others supports meaningful dialogue across broad, interprofessional issues grounded in academic inquiry, research, and discovery. Our Department provides opportunities to serve and promote better communication to an evolving and increasingly diverse community. Please refer to our Diversity Statement for more detail.
We believe that tangible educational, organizational, and personal benefits result from applying a critical lens too ourselves and our environment, individually and collectively examining our biases, assumptions, and worldviews, and challenging and mitigating structural inequities. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is grounded in our aspiration to cultivate intellectual rigor and curiosity among our students and to prepare them to thrive in and contribute to a globally diverse, complex, and interconnected world.
We strive to advocate for our professions and the populations we serve. We are committed to diversity, inclusion, reflection, and education that cultivate and expand our cultural competence cultural humility, and learning. We recognize that our department is not representative of the demographics of the populations we serve and recognize our position to fix this. We stand with our Black community members and students against state sanctioned police violence. We stand
in opposition to any systemic racist institutions that silence change and progress, as well as condone (implicitly or explicitly) white supremacy. We stand in solidarity with our Black members, students, clients, and families, believing that they deserve mutual respect and dignity.
For those of you seeking resources to further educate yourselves on recent events, we have compiled the following non-exhaustive list:
https://www.prettygooddesign.org/
https://blacklivesmatter.com/
https://www.tolerance.org/
https://interactioninstitute.org/results/the-alliance/
https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2019/whats-my-complicity-talking-white-fragilitywith-robin-diangelo
https://www.asha.org/Practice-Portal/Professional-Issues/Cultural-Competence
The Diversity Committee of SLHS