CFPA Diversity Equity Inclusion Task Force
The Basics
The Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Task Force is a part of the Center for Fine and Performing Arts composed of Students, Faculty, and Staff here for YOU - our community. On this webpage you will find:
- All of our contact information. Please reach out if you need help or have questions!
- A list of events sponsored by the DEI Task Force intended for anyone in the community to be involved with
- Our Mission Statement; the Task Force Charge; and report from the 2021 academic year
Please let us know if you have any thoughts or concerns. We’re here for YOU!
Three Questions
- Where are we as a college of artists and designers vis-à-vis diversity, equity and inclusiveness—especially as it relates to institutional and systematic racism?
- How can we better embrace and support our emerging BIPOC artists, during their time at Western Washington University and after they graduate?
- How can we address the challenges faced by many BIPOC high school students that pose barriers to recruitment in our disciplines?
ADEI Task Force
Goals
- Convene at the direction of the Dean to select a Chair, discuss the potential scope of work, and share insights already gained at the department level.
- Identify those issues that are best addressed at the College level (e.g., scholarships, hiring of faculty and staff) for further review.
- Inventory current ADEI efforts and programs within the College (e.g., targeted recruitment).
- Assist the Dean in planning ADEI initiatives (e.g., Black History Month).
- Consider best practices from other universities and organizations.
- Encourage robust and frank conversations within the CFPA community (e.g., listening sessions with small groups).
- Maintain a webpage or shared digital space that documents the Task Force’s work.
- Submit a draft ADEI plan to the Dean with short and long-term goals and aspirations by the end of the Spring Quarter, 2021.
- The draft ADEI plan will be reviewed by the CFPA Faculty Governance Council at the beginning of Fall Quarter, 2021.
A note from Dean Spicer
To the students, especially, of the CFPA: Your pursuits and passions–art, performance, design –at their root are fueled by a desire to express the sometimes inexpressible; to share ineffable joys as well as sorrows; to dig into thoughts, feelings, and institutions to uncover our fears and our hopes. I applaud your dedication to this work, especially, during this difficult period, the most severe that many of us have experienced to date.
I look forward to our students, faculty, and staff rising to the challenges before us in ways that strengthen our community and expand our understanding of ourselves and each other. The unique skills and gifts manifested in your work, your dedication and ingenuity, will create new paths forward that our world so urgently needs. I thank you in advance.
Cordially,
Kit Spicer, Dean