Recently, I had the opportunity to facilitate a meeting with my team of staff as we explored our “Why”, or our rationale for doing what we do. This was very important because of what we have been experiencing since March 2020. We transformed our offices to a virtual work environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic to continue to serve and support our students. My team has done a great job creating remote programming and fostering virtual engagement opportunities. Together we have stepped outside of the box to meaningfully address racism, racial tension, and antiblack sentiment following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many other African Americans. With all of these challenges and fifteen days before the start of the semester, I thought this was the time of to reflect, regroup, and refocus on “Reestablishing Our Why”.
During our meeting we discussed and explored strategies ranging from realigning efforts to be “student-ready” to rethinking how fluid Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can be. With the charge of being “student-ready” and paying closer attention to our students’ needs, I encouraged my staff to reflect on their own experiences at the university using a racial equity lens. I asked them to examine policies and practices that may be barriers for staff and students and to consider any challenges they may have encountered during their own academic careers. If we are to move forward by engaging students , promoting racial equity, and maximizing student achievement, we like our students, must be malleable as we work collectively to reestablish our “why” during this unprecedented time. Despite current challenges and the change in how we meet the needs of students we did not lose our inherent “Why”, but in times such as this we must redefine, reestablish, and recommit to our “Why.”
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” – James Baldwin
