Message From the Dean: Taking a Critical Look at History and Ourselves

Dear WSE community,

This Friday is Juneteenth, a day to commemorate the end of slavery in the U.S.

Juneteenth provides us with an opportunity to take a critical look at our history and at ourselves so that we can understand how and why the promise of racial equality in our nation has not been fully realized.

Changing the course of history, and dismantling racist institutions and traditions, require us to alter the ways many of us view the world, interact with each other, and even understand ourselves. If we are to effect real, meaningful, and lasting change, the first step is understanding how we got where we are today.

For this reason, we have compiled a list of resources that I encourage you to use in your process of self-education. These include resource guides, worksheets, and training related to unconscious bias, interrupting bias, and allyship, articles and books about the history of race in the U.S., and more.

I want to thank you for your commitment to changing our culture and helping to create an equitable society.

Sincerely,

Ed Schlesinger
Benjamin T. Rome Dean