亚洲AV

New campus center to focus on racial healing and social justice

亚洲AV is set to open a campus center focused on creating awareness about the effects of racism, as well as preparing the next generation of leaders dedicated to promoting racial and social justice.

In January, the聽聽(AAC&U) announced it had selected Mason to host a聽Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center. Mason joins 23 other colleges and universities hosting TRHT campus centers across the United States.

Mason is the only school in Virginia to be selected as a site for a TRHT campus center.

鈥淎t Mason, diversity is our strength,鈥 said Interim President Anne Holton. 鈥淏eing selected to host this center gives us an opportunity to lead the way on the challenging but crucial work of confronting racism and promoting equality.鈥

In 2017, 10 colleges and universities were selected to establish TRHT centers focused on racial healing. This year, the association announced it had picked 13 more colleges and universities, including Mason, to host TRHT centers. Other schools selected include Adelphi University, Stockton University and the University of Puget Sound.

鈥淲e are very excited about the potential here to be a leader in the work of racial healing in Virginia,鈥 said Rose聽Pascarell, Mason鈥檚 vice president for聽. 鈥淎s the largest and most diverse public university, we have the responsibility to engage our students to address racism and to ready them to be leaders on these issues in their communities, their workplaces and their families.鈥

Mason was selected based on its vision for the center, its demonstrated commitment of campus leaders and the community to the goals of a TRHT center and its ability to prove that the community needed a TRHT center.聽

鈥淎AC&U is proud to partner with 亚洲AV in advancing our shared objective of demonstrating how higher education can lead the way in jettisoning the belief in a hierarchy of human value,听鈥 said聽AAC&U president Lynn聽Pasquerella聽in a statement.聽

Each center is charged with creating a positive narrative change about race in the community, promoting racial healing on campus and in the community, dismantling the belief in a hierarchy of human value and eradicating structural barriers to equal treatment and opportunity.

The TRHT Campus Center project is administered through the AAC&U, in partnership with the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Newman鈥檚 Own Foundation and Papa John鈥檚 Foundation. Gail Christopher, a senior scholar at Mason鈥檚聽, was the architect behind the TRHT Campus Center project when she served as vice president at the Kellogg Foundation.

In June, teams from the 13 newly selected colleges and universities will gather for a training program in Atlanta, Georgia, where Mason鈥檚 team will refine its plans for the next two years and practice designing and co-facilitating聽Rx Racial Healing Circles.

The AAC&U describes Rx Racial Healing Circles as a way to engage participants in building trust and understanding among diverse groups. Using the circles, Mason鈥檚 center is expected to involve the community in allowing participants to immerse themselves in the commonalities of a shared human journey, while acknowledging the consequences of exposure to racism and honoring diverse cultures and experiences.聽

鈥淭he intention is to facilitate authentic engagement with people who might be perceived as very different and build community as a result,鈥 said Christopher, who also serves as executive director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity.

Last summer,听,听,听,听,听听补苍诲 participated in the 2019 TRHT Institute.聽