News

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is among 78 higher education institutions selected to participate in the 2021 Institute on Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Centers, a virtual event scheduled for June 22-25 that will bring together college leaders for four days of intense learning and collaboration.

Run by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the institute will provide an opportunity for teams at each institution to gain knowledge about the structure of Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) in an effort “to break down racial hierarchies and dismantle the belief in a hierarchy of human value.” The goal for most institutions is to host a Center on their respective campuses.

SIUE is among 14 institutions with existing Centers who will participate in the Institute. Representing SIUE at the institute:

• Connie Frey Spurlock, PhD, associate professor and director of the Successful Communities Collaborative
• Kathryn Bentley, associate professor and director of the Black Studies program
• Courtney Boddie, PhD, director of Counseling Services and associate dean of students for diversity and inclusion
• Lydia Jackson, assistant to the provost for library and community engagement, and associate dean in Library and Information Services
• Tarsha Moore, assistant director for the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion (CSDI)
• Lindy Wagner, CSDI director
• Matthew Schunke, PhD, associate professor
• Renatto Carr, a doctoral student in history

Community partners Antwoinette Ayers, of I Am East St. Louis The Magazine; and Dewitt Campbell III, of National Conference for Community and Justice of Metropolitan St. Louis (NCCJ St. Louis) also will participate.

“None of this would have been possible without the contributions of the TRHT team and community partners,” Harris said. “I'm especially appreciative of Connie Frey Spurlock for her leadership. I couldn't be prouder of our accomplishments and the impact of the TRHT effort thus far.”

In January 2020, AAC&U added SIUE to 13 institutions to host Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers. SIUE officially launched its Center in September 2020. An initial group of 10 institutions was selected by AAC&U in 2017.

In partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation effort, AAC&U works with higher education institutions across the country to develop self-sustaining, community-integrated TRHT Campus Centers. The Centers are organized around the TRHT’s five pillars – narrative change, racial healing and relationship building, separation, law, and economy.

“AAC&U is thrilled to partner with colleges and universities of all types and sizes across the country to advance the TRHT effort,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella to University Business. “We look forward to the opportunity to learn with and from the participants in the 2021 Institute, and to support their efforts to promote racial equity and healing on their campuses and in their communities.”

 Photo (L-R): SIUE TRHT committee members Courtney Boddie, director of Counseling Services and associate dean of students for diversity and inclusion; Elizabeth McKenney, associate professor in the Department of Psychology; Jessica Harris, vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion; Connie Frey Spurlock, associate professor in the Department of Sociology; Kathryn Bentley, associate professor of theater performance in the Department of Theater and Dance; and Bryan Jack, associate professor in the Department of Historical Studies.