Pictured above: Dr. Haywood Brown (left) and Dr. Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman were both appointed to new positions at USF to coincide with President Steve Currall’s efforts to promote diversity and inclusivity at the university.
Left Image Courtesy of USF Health, Right Image Courtesy of USF
By Aya Diab and Sophie Ojdanic
USF President Steve Currall sent out a letter Tuesday pledging university-wide action to “address societal racism.”
Currall’s changes and plans include two personnel moves, $500,000 for research projects that address the concept, origin and consequences of systemic racism, as well as more black student outreach and strengthening relationships between USF and the black community.
“I hope you will join me in supporting these important actions as we continue to strive to fulfill our responsibility to provide leadership and demonstrate our active commitment to creating a civil, humane and compassionate society in which racism is not tolerated,” the letter said.
“The need for change is ongoing, and I will continue to provide you with updates as further actions are taken and progress is achieved.”
Currall’s letter outlined multiple plans for encouraging diversity and inclusivity at USF. (See the full letter below).
He announced that Dr. Haywood Brown, USF’s vice president of institutional equity, has been appointed to USF’s Executive Leadership Council, an 11-member group that Currall called “the university’s top leadership team.”
This team covers “everything from students to finances to housing to athletics,” according to Brown.
As the vice president of institutional equity, Brown said he had a connection to President Currall, but this appointment allows him to “articulate directly to (Currall’s) entire team.”
Currall and the ELC had been working on addressing the topics of diversity and inclusivity for several months, but cases like that of George Floyd gave the university what Brown called “a new sense of urgency.”
Brown shares Currall’s goals, with emphasis on furthering black student recruitment and comfortability on all USF campuses.
“We are OneUSF,” he said. “Everything we’re rolling out is for USF as a whole.”
One such initiative is that of principles of community affirmation teams, which students and faculty can turn to when issues arise relating to bias.
Brown called these teams a forum where someone can go to be heard, and an “opportunity to vent about what those circumstances were.”
“We want students to come back comfortable,” Brown said.
Furthermore, Dr. Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman, an associate professor of sociology who wrote a call to action signed by 88 black professors earlier this summer, was appointed a senior adviser to the president and provost on diversity and inclusion.
“I am very excited about this opportunity and impressed by the significant steps that both President Currall and Provost (Ralph) Wilcox have already taken to promote anti-racism, equity, and access at USF,” Hordge-Freeman said in an email to The Crow’s Nest. “My immediate plan is to spend time learning about the strategies and initiatives already being developed across the campuses in order to identify opportunities for growth that will foster an inclusive and antiracist campus community.”
Hordge-Freeman also shared her proposed approach to tackling racism at USF.
“Any effort at addressing systemic racism has to include a multi-pronged approach and ongoing strategic initiatives,” Hordge-Freeman said. “At USF, many of these new anti-racist practices and policies will consider evidence-based research about the importance of being intentional about supporting black students, faculty, and staff.”
Currall’s letter comes amid a national surge in the Black Lives Matter movement and calls on both the St. Petersburg and Tampa campuses to address systemic racism and recruit more black students and faculty.
St. Petersburg has a new task force on inclusivity and diversity that includes the regional chancellor, the governor of the campus’ Student Government and the vice mayor of St. Petersburg. But its virtual meetings are not open to the public.
The $500,000 allocation cited in Currall’s letter is slotted for the first of three interdisciplinary research projects.
These projects will be handled by a new university research task force consisting of faculty and staff from all three campuses, according to a press release from the university. This task force was originally created to address recent and long-standing issues, ranging from racism to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But at least one student questions if this funding is money well spent.
“Why spend $500,000 on research when so many other credible sources have valid research?” said Taniya Tinsley, a senior marketing major at USF St. Petersburg. “I have taken part in many open talks to state how racism has affected me as a black student and I am sure others would take part as well.
“That money instead can go towards educational advancement programs that can be created for black students, the hiring of more black professors and staff, or more scholarships to help students succeed in receiving their … degrees.”
Internally, Currall is encouraging USF to enter supplier contracts with more black-owned businesses and strengthen current partnerships. A senior member of the university’s Office of Supplier Diversity will now get a vote in the decision-making process for expenditures of $75,000 or above.
Currall’s letter also stressed the university’s goal to attract more black students. He said many of the university’s recruitment tactics had been introduced going into the fall semester on all three USF campuses.
Summer tuition numbers at USF St. Petersburg reflect a steady decline in black students since 2016.
Students like Tinsley say they haven’t seen many changes in St. Petersburg.
“It seems like the majority of any initiatives are … focused on Tampa students,” Tinsley said. “Tampa campus is a very diverse place as far as I have been told by fellow students. I hope that with consolidation, the opportunities that black students already had on campus will be available to those of us at St. Petersburg and Sarasota and these future diversity initiatives Currall speaks of will be focused on all three campuses with equity in mind.”
Currall’s letter also mentioned a university goal to “broaden its relationship with the black community across all three campuses.”
The Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Opportunity, or DIEO, will hold a virtual forum called “Black Lives and the Police.” This forum will be presented to students on Aug. 11 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
According to Brown, the forum included students, professors, police chiefs, and attorneys.
Brown said the university also plans to put out a series of group sessions which focus on racism and anti-racism. These sessions will be an hour and a half and take place every week for six weeks.
Both DIEO and the Office of Multicultural Affairs “plan on encouraging individuals to express their opinions regarding matters like racism, both structural and systemic,” Currall said.
Currall’s letter references a consolidated USF, but some students don’t believe changes will be made throughout the USF system.
“As a black student, I am always hearing that we as a university are undergoing some initiative, but I never feel it or witness it,” Tinsley said. “I don’t see the changes affecting university life much. I hope I’m wrong, though. I hope that these initiatives aren’t useless words in an email that don’t have any real power behind them.”
‘An even greater force for positive change…’
This is Currall’s full letter to the USF community:
Dear University Community and Friends of USF:
In June, I shared a message with you denouncing the deeply troubling events occurring across the country that reflected the systemic racism that continues to plague our nation. Today, I’m writing to provide you with an update on important actions USF is taking as we work to become an even greater force for positive change. Our specific actions are outlined below.
To reinforce USF’s enduring commitment to diversity and inclusion, I have appointed Dr. Haywood Brown, USF’s vice president of institutional equity, as a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), the university’s top leadership team. As a member of the ELC, Dr. Brown will be involved in all major decisions made at USF.
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman, associate professor of Sociology, has accepted my, and the Provost’s, offer to become the Senior Adviser to the President and Provost on Diversity and Inclusion. In this newly created role, Dr. Hordge-Freeman will advise and support university leadership in our efforts to foster anti-racism, access, equity, cultural inclusivity and cultural intelligence. She will partner with campus-wide groups working on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion such as curricular development, professional development of faculty members and staff, and helping to ensure that hiring practices for administrators and faculty are free from bias and reflect USF’s commitment to diversity. Dr. Hordge-Freeman will also work in concert with Dr. Brown, as well as other campus leaders, faculty members and staff.
To advance research on racism in society, the Office of the Provost and USF Research & Innovation have committed $500,000 to fund a first round of interdisciplinary research projects. Guided by a newly formed task force of USF faculty and staff from our three campuses, we are pleased to announce a Call for Proposals for Research Grants for Understanding and Addressing Blackness and Anti-Black Racism in our Local, National and International Communities.
To further support the participation of Black-owned businesses as vendors to the university, we have updated language regarding our standards of conduct for employees that encourages more supplier contracts for Black businesses and other diverse supplier categories. We have also mandated that a senior member of the Office of Supplier Diversity hold a “voting” role on the decision-making team for supplier opportunities of $75,000 and above. Moreover, informed by recent feedback from regional economic development organizations (e.g., the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs and others), I have recently sent correspondence to the USF Office of Supplier Diversity that describes additional specific actions we are taking to strengthen our partnerships with Black businesses.
To continue to inspire thoughtful dialogue across all three USF campuses, the Office of Diversity, Inclusion & Equal Opportunity (DIEO) is holding a virtual forum titled Black Lives and the Police featuring a panel of individuals offering distinct perspectives regarding progressive policing. A link to the recorded event will be released for viewing next week.
Looking ahead to the start of the 2020-2021 academic year, DIEO staff and the Office of Multicultural Affairs will embark on an initiative designed to give individuals an opportunity to candidly discuss and address matters of race and racism, including structural and systemic racism. This initiative, begun on USF’s St. Petersburg campus last academic year, involves creating Dismantling Racism Study Circles – diverse groups of 10-14 individuals discussing all aspects of race and racism, including their personal experiences. All viewpoints, backgrounds and experiences will be welcome and the discussions, led by two trained facilitators of opposite gender and race, will take place over a six-week period. The participants then will prioritize new ideas, which may entail proposals to the university’s leadership.
Dr. Brown and I, along with other members of USF’s faculty and staff, have also held several meetings with members of the Bay Area Legislative Delegation of the Florida Legislature and community-based advocacy organizations. We have discussed the implementation of several innovative strategies and we will continue those meetings on a regular basis.
Meanwhile, our offices of Student Success and Admissions have begun developing targeted plans to attract more Black students to all three USF campuses. Many of those initiatives have been introduced during the recruitment process for this fall’s class. For example, we have expanded our marketing efforts to prospective high school students in the seven-county Tampa Bay service area and are working to develop closer ties to selected high schools to strengthen the pipeline from local schools into USF. We plan on expanding our partnerships with local Title I programs by adding key high schools to our Guaranteed Admission Partnership Program, and conducting virtual high school events for application and FAFSA completion.
We also are holding regularly scheduled meetings with the Black Leadership Network (BLN) to recruit more students and raise additional scholarship funds. For those who are not familiar with the BLN, it includes passionate alumni, donors and USF staff who play a critical role in supporting academic scholarships and enhancing Black student success through programs focused on personal and professional development. Since its inception in 2016, the BLN has raised nearly $2.3 million, and during the upcoming academic year, 63 students will benefit from that support.
I hope you will join me in supporting these important actions as we continue to strive to fulfill our responsibility to provide leadership and demonstrate our active commitment to creating a civil, humane and compassionate society in which racism is not tolerated. The need for change is ongoing, and I will continue to provide you with updates as further actions are taken and progress is achieved.
Sincerely,
Steven Currall
President and Professor
Edyn Gottlieb contributed to this report.
