By Cecilia Cress and Olivia Montes
News Co-Editors
Washington College is in the process of joining the Liberal Arts College Racial Equity Leadership Alliance consortium, according to a campus-wide email sent by the Presidents’ Office on Feb. 8.
Inspired by the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center’s racial equity leadership alliance for community colleges across the state of California, LACRELA “aim[s] to address the unique racial challenges and circumstances the colleges are facing,” including acknowledging racial inequalities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hiring and supporting faculty and staff members of color, and recognizing “the ‘cultural mismatch’ between very socially liberal campuses and the surrounding communities where the colleges are located, which are sometimes more conservative,” according to Inside Higher Ed.
LACRELA officially launched in 2020, and currently has nearly 70 liberal arts institution members as of 2022. Current members include Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa.; Cabrini University in Radnor Township, Pa.; and Pitzer College in Claremont, Ca.
When looking for ways to further enrich and strengthen the College as a fair and equitable institution, President of the College Dr. Mike Sosulski said he was encouraged to join LACRELA based on his previous experiences working as Provost for Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. when they joined in January 2021. This involved making “opportunities available to [interested] faculty and staff,” including via “eConvenings,” or “webinar-style trainings and discussions on really specific topics and DEI work.”
Dr. Sosulski wanted the College to be a part of this initiative, and noted that being a member of LACRELA would mean helping to “continue…build[ing] WC’s knowledge and understanding,” as well as help us to “enrich our toolkits.”
“The idea was to just share best practices and help bring people across the country in liberal arts colleges up to speed on how to do DEI work in an effective way and what to expect in terms of challenges,” Dr. Sosulski said.
As part of the plan to expand on their range of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, the College aims to continue “confronting our past [and] realizing that we’ve got some work to do,” according to Interim Provost and Dean of the College Dr. Michael Harvey. Joining LACRELA is one answer to the question of “how to build the best possible culture going forward,” according to Dr. Harvey.
“It’s very easy for colleges to talk about equality and [providing] equal access for everybody,” Dr. Harvey said. “Our student body still probably doesn’t look like the world…[we need to] accurately represent the community we’re a part of.”
While Dr. Harvey said that the process of joining will take time, he said that, having previously met with several provosts of colleges that are LACRELA members, he feels hopeful that the College will not only join, but will take the necessary steps to be an institution for all.
“I think that joining LACRELA lets us communicate with other colleges going down that same path,” he said. “I think by joining, it just puts us in more contact with other institutions. It’s part of our ongoing work to become more of the College that we need to be the best possible liberal arts college for everybody.”