Commitment College Wide

This Call to Action is designed to drive college-wide work towards sustainable institutional practices addressing racial inequities; it serves to drive action and will be expanded and more well informed as we collectively and individually take on this work. This is a call to each of us at the college to engage in meaningful reflection and thoughtful analysis, and most importantly, to enact changes in what we do.   We are ALL asked to agendize racial equity and social justice and to commit to identifying one or more practices within your respective areas that will collectively move Cuesta towards becoming a more anti-racist college.  
  
As your department or committee determines and implements its sustainable practice(s), please reflect on the four overarching Racial Equity Priorities as well as the equity-minded guiding questions below.    
  
Racial Equity Priorities:  

  1. Build Spaces for Open Dialogue: Intentional messaging and spaces for meaningful and open dialogue on a continuous, ongoing basis  
  2. Commit to Learning, Self-Reflection, and Institutional Reflection: Individual and collective inquiry and reflection and learning about race, racism, and developing equity-minded practices  
  3. Change the Student Experience: Assess and make changes from an equity and social justice perspective in both the instructional and student service experience 
  4. Commit to Structural Changes: Identify policies and procedures that remove inequities and promote equity  

  
Please be willing to provide feedback on your role in actively implementing one or more of the four racial equity priorities above, either as a committee member, a department, a division, or as an individual at Cuesta College. Consider the equity-minded questions that follow for opening dialogue and growing your sustainable equity practices. 

CALL TO ACTION FEEDBACK FORM 

For additional learning and resources on systemic racism and racial equity, also consider re-engaging in the 21 Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge or refer to the list of resources below.    

Thank you for committing to implementing the Call to Action that will lead us to becoming a more anti-racist campus. We look forward to our work together.   

Equity-minded questions to consider as you dialogue and engage in your sustainable practice(s):   
 

  1. Will this practice lead to success for students whom we have historically underserved? Are we putting our students first, including our students of color?   
      
  2. Are we doing this work based on deficit assumptions about our students’ capacities and motivations? If so, how do we reframe our thinking around these assumptions?  
      
  3. As we are changing systems, are we focused on ensuring that we are changing hearts and minds around racial injustice?   
      
  4. Does this practice intentionally mitigate systemic inequities facing our students?   
      
  5. Do we have data that would suggest that this change will alleviate equity gaps? And, are we utilizing it?   
      
  6. Have we put measures in place to ensure that this practice will not lead to exclusionary outcomes that worsen equity gaps for underserved students?   
      
  7. Do we have a strategy in place to course-correct if we find that equity gaps are being manifested by our practices? 

List of Resources on Racial Equity: 

For more information on the Call to Action on Racial Equity and Social Justice, please contact the co-chairs of the Equity and Student Success Committee:

Madeline Medeiros, Carina Love & Mia Ruiz