SAN MARCOS \u2014 Two weeks after George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, a movement gained energy at Palomar College. After decades of antiracist work that crossed academic, departmental and generational boundaries at Palomar, the time had come, with a national wave of momentum, to evaluate the way the college resists and overturns institutionalized racism.<\/p>\n
More than 300 people attended a virtual healing forum held on Wednesday, June 10\u2014an opportunity for the campus community to come together to \u201clisten, learn, and support.\u201d During the event, Interim Superintendent\/President Dr. Jack Kahn shared the 10 \u201caction items\u201d that would shape the college-wide antiracism effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis summer, with the nationwide antiracism movement, the work ahead of us at Palomar College was crystallized and energized by a new generation of leaders,\u201d said Dr. Kahn. \u201cThe question became how to genuinely live the values of equity and justice for the Black, Indigenous and People of Color who are studying and working at Palomar College.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a campus-wide message the day after the Black Lives Matter forum, he wrote, \u201cWe will dedicate ourselves to making a significant impact on the issues of safety, hiring, pedagogy and curriculum, retention, facilities, completion, professional development and others.\u201d<\/p>\n
A variety of campus leaders, from students to faculty to staff and administrators, all agreed that the momentum shifted this summer, after witnessing Floyd\u2019s death on video.<\/p>\n
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Olga Diaz<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWe were being substantive and doing the work we wanted to do, but it was hard to get people engaged,\u201d said Director of Student Success & Equity Olga Diaz. \u201cBut now, after the shock of what we witnessed over the summer, people have been jolted into action, and they\u2019re saying, \u2018How can we help?\u2019 Ideas that weren\u2019t going anywhere before\u2014now, there\u2019s an appetite.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meeting the Future with an Antiracist Agenda<\/h2>\n
During the watershed moment that developed over several weeks in the Summer of 2020, Palomar College Counselor and Assistant Professor Dr. Hossna Sadat Ahadi led Black Lives Matter forums and racial healing circles.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the recent murders within the African American\/Black community through police brutality and white supremacy, I really felt like the healing part of the event was significant,\u201d said Sadat Ahadi. \u201cAs an educator, I wanted to do more for students, staff, faculty, administrators, and community members to heal and create brave spaces to stand for civil rights, racial equity, and social justice at Palomar College.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the virtual event, 10 action items were first presented that would form the basis of a bold new antiracist agenda at the college. Developed collaboratively with Palomar students, staff and faculty, and with input from the college\u2019s Umoja Scholars, the action items were read by Dr. Kahn:<\/p>\n
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- Improve and include race-conscious and race-based training for current Palomar police department officers and students in public safety programs.<\/li>\n
- Identify a designated space for African American\/Black students at Palomar College (mirroring the Pride and Veterans Center).<\/li>\n
- Hiring more faculty, staff, administrators who are African American\/Black.<\/li>\n
- Hiring full-time faculty for Africana Studies who are authentically engaged in Black consciousness.<\/li>\n
- Audit classroom climate. Create action plans to implement inclusive classroom and equity-minded teaching.<\/li>\n
- Provide professional development training specifically addressing support for our African American\/Black students and promoting anti-racism in curriculum and teaching to ensure action is taking place.<\/li>\n
- Ensure African American\/Black employees are protected contractually and are included in decision-making processes.<\/li>\n
- Host get-out-the-vote campaign and contextualize the history of voting rights.<\/li>\n
- Have celebratory graduation for African American\/Black students on campus.<\/li>\n
- Establish an action group that works towards institutionalizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Palomar College.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Looking back on the forum, Sadat Ahadi said, \u201cIt was important to have Dr. Kahn read the 10 call to action points, because there\u2019s a great impact when the leader of your institution is responsive to antiracism and racial equity. Dr. Kahn has definitely paved the way for our college to become antiracist.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Hossna Sadat Ahadi<\/p><\/div>\n
To foster accountability, the college assembled teams to work on the items laid out in the call to action, and developed a website to publicize its progress<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Sadat Ahadi said she considers reflection, collaboration and leadership to be the three important factors to building an antiracist and equity focused ethos at Palomar College.<\/p>\n
\u201cNumber one is reflection,\u201d she said. \u201cMore people are now reflecting on their own experiences in the United States, and being educated, or being miseducated. I think that\u2019s critical\u2014when people start to reflect on who they are, how they\u2019ve been brought up, and even reflecting on how colonialism and white supremacy has become implicit or explicitly ingrained in the education system. A system that needs to eradicate racism and decolonize practices.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s imperative to spend time to reflect on everyone\u2019s lived experiences and the inequities that continue to be presented, and how it affects people in the education system,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
As for collaboration, Sadat Ahadi said, she started working full-time at Palomar in 2018, when she began social justice activism work on campus with introducing racial equity and antiracism professional development workshops.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstitutionalizing antiracism and equity at our campus should be everybody\u2019s number one priority,\u201d she states. Sadat Ahadi continues to elevate and empower students, staff, faculty, and administrators at Palomar College on this transformational change.<\/p>\n
Finally, she said, \u201cLeadership allows us to grow and empower others by validating their agency to pave the way. In the words of Dr. Bettina Love, \u2018Education can\u2019t save us, we have to save education.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
New Allies, New Directions<\/h2>\n
Among the most promising developments in 2020, campus leaders say, was the emergence of new groups of students, faculty and staff all engaged in antiracist activity.<\/p>\n
One such group to emerge this summer was the Asian Pacific Alliance in Higher Education (APAHE) at Palomar College, representing a significant population of both students and employees.<\/p>\n
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Angela Kong<\/p><\/div>\n
Angela Kong, who has helped lead the group, said it was a significant step forward to create spaces to discuss experiences of racism and exclusion at Palomar.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur group was formed in response to Black Lives Matter, and we decided we wanted to address Asian-Pacific Islander history, anti-Asian hate crimes that are going on at this moment, and our identities that intertwine with race relations in the U.S.,\u201d said Kong. \u201cOne thing we\u2019ve done so far is to create a resource page on the Library website for Asian-Pacific Islanders with articles, books, media, and film to support anyone wanting to educate themselves or expand their knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monica Diego Schmidt, a Senior Library Technician at the college, said the group is still in its early stages, but was immediately focused on one consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic: \u201cThe labeling of COVID-19 as the \u2018Chinese virus.\u2019 It created a world of hate crimes. We see them not only throughout the nation, but within our own communities, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Monica Diego Schmidt<\/p><\/div>\n
Diego said APAHE is focused on fostering understanding and collaboration with other antiracist groups on campus; bringing together all employees and students of Asian descent; serving the Asian-Pacific Islander community through cultural activities and education; and providing resources to aid in faculty and student research.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, we want to support each other and talk about the interactions we\u2019ve had in the past, as well as now\u2014what are the new challenges we have, being Asians and Pacific Islanders?\u201d said Diego.<\/p>\n
Student and Faculty Voices<\/h2>\n
Sociology Professor Amber Colbert worked as an adjunct for Palomar starting in 2011, and was hired full-time in the fall of 2019. She said she \u201cnever saw people like me on campus\u2014we were few and far between.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soon after arriving, Colbert founded the Black Faculty & Staff Association at Palomar.<\/p>\n
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Amber Colbert<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really important that the voices and the presence of people of color on this campus, and specifically Black people, are honored and heard,\u201d she said. \u201cAs somebody who came from a family active in Civil Rights and growing up aware of different movements \u2026 some of us have been awake our whole lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colbert said people on campus are \u201cmuch more involved\u201d than she\u2019s ever seen before.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is encouraging,\u201d she said, \u201cbut with that wanting to be engaged, there\u2019s still a power dynamic that needs to shift\u2014you actually silence your voice and give somebody else the space to speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel Alazar, who is the current Student Trustee to the Palomar College Governing Board, said that she has witnessed prejudice at Palomar, but also sees encouraging signs of progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople don\u2019t really notice unless you bring light to it, and now there\u2019s a lot of light coming to it,\u201d said Alazar.<\/p>\n
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Rachel Alazar<\/p><\/div>\n
Her concern, she said, is that decision-making should be truly student-centered and not political, in order to maintain the energy of the movement: \u201cWe need to make sure it\u2019s not just a political agenda item, but an actual step forward,\u201d said Alazar.<\/p>\n
Rocco Versaci, a long-time professor of English at Palomar and the current president of the Faculty Senate, said that he also experienced a perceptible shift in the environment of the college this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always tried to bring writers of color into my classes, but this year has been a big turning point,\u201d said Versaci, who has been active in the White Allies group since this summer. \u201cIn the Faculty Senate, we\u2019ve been having a conversation about what our faculty can do to both lead and support antiracist activities on campus. We generated a concrete list of actions, and we\u2019re going to bring that up to see what we can get started right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second one is diversity in faculty hiring,\u201d he added. \u201cYou can talk issues to death, and before you know it, weeks have gone by and nothing\u2019s happened. I\u2019m really trying to move it into a more concrete phase. It really helps that there is all of this momentum, campus-wide.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Rocco Versaci<\/p><\/div>\n
Most recently, the Faculty Senate created a subcommittee on Diversity, Equity, and Cultural Competence, chaired by Eduardo Aguilar of the Ethnic Studies Department. Members of the subcommittee include faculty from a cross section of Palomar\u2019s academic departments, including Performing Arts, American Indian Studies, ESL and English.<\/p>\n
Leaders Looking to Sustain the Movement<\/h2>\n
With unprecedented support for and attention to antiracism at Palomar College, participants say the challenge will be converting energy into results.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the last wave, which is going to take us a very long time, is changing the way we do everything to meet the needs of our students,\u201d said Dr. Kahn.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not a perfect campus, but we\u2019re learning to be more reflective, and more conscious,\u201d said Sadat Ahadi. \u201cI do think Dr. Kahn has led the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Colbert: \u201cWhen these kinds of movements happen, there\u2019s always talk about wanting to change things, but I\u2019m encouraged that the college is making a real effort to institutionalize antiracism.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
This is part three of a series of stories examining the history of antiracism at Palomar College. Subsequent stories will appear on Palomar News, and in the index below, as they are published.<\/em><\/p>\n
SERIES INDEX<\/h3>\n
1. Introduction and Story Index<\/a><\/p>\n
2. The Early History of Antiracism at Palomar College<\/a><\/p>\n
3. Opening the Campus Doors to Marginalized People<\/a><\/p>\n