New BSOS Anti-Black Racism Initiative Report Shares Updates on the College’s Efforts

The college’s Anti-Black Racism Initiative (ABRI) recently published a report outlining activities, progress toward existing goals, and updated plans and priorities. 

The report builds on the efforts of the ABRI—which was founded in 2020 to advance racial equity in the college, on campus, and throughout local communities—outlined in an initial report of findings and recommendations across a broad range of key metrics and priorities to then-dean Gregory F. Ball and other senior leaders in BSOS in 2021. 

A major point of progress mentioned in the 2022-2023 ABRI report concerns the college’s hiring efforts. Fifteen Black and underrepresented scholars were hired during the 2022-2023 academic year, many through the BSOS racial inequality cluster and UMD’s Faculty Advancement at Maryland for Inclusive Learning and Excellence (FAMILE) and Presidential Postdoctoral Programs. 

“The significance of my appointment to the Department of Geographical Sciences is profound,” said Assistant Professor Catherine Nakalembe, who was appointed under the FAMILE program. “Having been part of the research faculty in the department, my tenure-track appointment opens opportunities to mentor PhDs and teach through my perspectives, experiences, and insights contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of geographical phenomena and challenges and student interest in my work.”

Each new hire will be supported throughout the academic year by the Vision Team for Faculty Success (VTFS), a group of senior BSOS faculty who are designing a framework for robust mentoring, networking and professional development opportunities for junior faculty in the college.

“The VTFS will serve as an important visionary body for the overall faculty success mentoring program we plan to develop—including helping to craft individual mentoring teams for assistant professors, planning mentoring and community-building activities and programs, assessing our progress, and making changes or adjustments when necessary,” said Dean Susan Rivera, who formed the VTFS after arriving at UMD in 2022. “Through ABRI, faculty, staff, and students across the college continue to provide valuable insights into how to advance racial equity and social justice concerns within BSOS and on our campus more broadly. I sincerely value their recommendations and look forward to our continuing collaboration.”

The college also allocated partial funding to hire an Assistant Research Professor for the Social Justice Alliance and Anti-Black Racism Initiative, as well as a Graduate Assistant. In conjunction with the Office of the Provost, in 2022 BSOS hired Jeanette Snider, Ph.D., to take on the former role, and Victoria Alexander, a third-year doctoral student in the UMD Student Affairs program, to take the latter.

“I recognize the significance of my role given the national climate where positions like mine are being stripped away. The institutional and financial commitment demonstrated by BSOS and UMD to build and maintain a diverse, equitable and social justice-oriented college and university is evident by my appointment and the appointment of so many outstanding faculty in our college,” said Snider. “It has been an honor to serve in this new role alongside my colleagues in BSOS and across campus to advance social and racial justice for years to come.” 

In alignment with the ABRI’s work, and alongside ABRI Director and Professor of Sociology Dr. Rashawn Ray, Snider helped create the University of Maryland’s first ever Anti-Black Racism Minor. The interdisciplinary minor’s two new, signature courses will debut this fall: ABRM330: Introduction to Anti-Black Racism, and ABRM450: Applied Anti-Black Racism. Because the new minor includes faculty leadership from five different colleges at University of Maryland, including Arts & Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Education, Public Health, and Public Policy, students are able to study Anti-Black Racism broadly. 

Snider and Ray also worked with Department of African American Studies Lecturer Ashley Newby and Professor John Drabinski to secure a Team Project Award for the ABRI, from the UMD Grand Challenges Grants Program. The $1.2M, three-year (2023-2026) grant will work to position UMD as a leading anti-Black racism institution, and expand efforts to eradicate anti-Black racism by engaging three other campus units—the College of Arts and Humanities, School of Education, and School of Public Health—in research with faculty and students across campus, public events, and professional development workshops for faculty. 

"The Anti-Black Racism Initiative has been immensely successful due to support and contributions from many BSOS colleagues, particularly Jeanette Snider, who worked daily to ensure the goals we set in the 2020-2021 year came to fruition," said Ray. "ABRI has contributed to increasing the racial diversity of our faculty, created a minor that spans the campus, and obtained a grant to expand this important work. These are huge milestones in a short period. The grant will allow us to keep the momentum going and do even more." 

Photo of UMD's Frederick Douglass Square is by John T. Consoli

Published on Mon, Aug 14, 2023 - 1:56PM