More than 500 people gathered virtually Friday to discuss equity, diversity and inclusion at Portland State University’s Equity Summit.
Ame Lambert, PSU’s new vice president of Global Diversity & Inclusion, first stated what would quickly become the theme for the day’s events: “We are the one we’ve been waiting for.”
Participants spent the day learning, discussing and developing concrete visions for PSU’s future.
“It is my deep desire that today represents a fresh start. I hope today we can envision the university we want to become,” said PSU President Stephen Percy. “Our work today must begin framing bold action to create change. We must commit to the goal of eliminating all forms of racism and discrimination.”
Percy acknowledged that many in the campus community viewed the Oct. 30 summit with skepticism and fear that the conversation and work done would lead nowhere, as has happened in the past.
“We are creating a huge injustice if we let that happen again,” he said. “There’s much ahead of us but you can count on me for the long-term commitment and action needed to move this forward to create a just, anticolonialist and racist free environment at PSU.”
The summit focused on four parts: Discovery, Dream, Design, Destiny. Participants broke into virtual sub-groups at each juncture to share and collaborate with each other.
“We have the opportunity to absolutely catapult to a new culture,” said Cathy Royal, an applied behavioral scientist who helped design the summit. “Whatever happens in this country on November 3, it's going to take all of us to do what we want to have happen in 2021.”
Dreams for PSU included shifting from an access institution to an inclusive institution, more authentically celebrating cultures and embracing a truly diverse campus and investing in inclusivity.
These ideas will be shepherded to five task forces that will take between one and three years to consider and decide which initiatives could have the most impact and what it will take to accomplish each idea. The five task forces are: Leadership & Infrastructure; Student Access, Success and Equity Education; Scholarship and Service; Campus Climate and Intergroup Relations; and Employee Access, Success and Equity.
“The essence of this is that we deliver,” Lambert said. “It’s also an opportunity for you as individuals to think about what you are going to do to deliver this work.”
Percy said he’s committed to growing the resources needed to nourish these seeds of transformation, which includes a new Racial Equity Fund from the PSU Foundation.
The PSU Foundation is launching the fund with $50,000 and hopes donors who believe in this work will help us increase that private investment over time. Percy added that it's just the beginning.
“If we can get the harnessing and alignment right we’ll get the work done,” Lambert said in closing. “We’ll live up to our mission and make ourselves proud, make our students proud and we'll make our future proud.”