Social Justice on America’s Campuses

The panel with Dr. Ajay Nair, President of Arcadia University, and Steven Bradley, Professor of African American Studies at Loyola Marymount University, was very compelling. I learned a lot about the steps students, faculty, and university administrators can take to unpack and overcome institutional racism, despite the fact that many of these universities were not founded with the intent of educating a diverse student body. Dr. Nair brought up a great point about how colleges should leverage their resources for social justice and as much as they leverage their resources for research and other academic initiatives. Universities cannot afford to not do the right thing, financially and morally. I agreed with how the onus should be put on university administrators to uphold social justice in equitable ways instead of distancing the university from racial injustices that occur outside of campus. Professor Bradley also brought up a great point about how administrators cannot put all of the responsibility on the students’ backs to create change within their institutions. Furthermore, students should be listened to instead of silenced; it is hypocritical to claim to want to create the future leaders of the world but then get uptight about how students are protesting. College should be students’ home away from home and university leaders should be held accountable for upholding these values. Dr. Nair said that as a leader, we don’t see success until we advance our goals, and I want to take what I learned in this event to create meaningful change in the spaces I inhabit on campus. As a leader in a few organizations at Cornell, I want to develop frameworks to advance diversity and inclusion in my own way, with the hope of creating more just and equitable spaces for my peers.

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