Southern Illinois University Edwardsville will join 27 other institutions in the Truth, Racial Healing, Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers Summer Institute June 25-28 in Philadelphia on the Villanova University campus. More than 200 institutions will participate in the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ (AAC&U) various summer institutes.
The AAC&U is partnering with higher education institutions to develop TRHT Campus Centers to prepare the next generation of strategic leaders and critical thinkers to address the historical and contemporary entanglements of race and racism within society. At the institute, teams interested in learning more about the TRHT framework will join teams from the 10 current TRHT Campus Centers to develop transformative campus action plans focused on breaking down racial hierarchies.
To fully realize the goals of the TRHT Campus Centers, the program will offer participants opportunities to design and lead racial healing circles, a vital element of TRHT efforts. Featured speakers include Gail C. Christopher of Ntianu Garden: Center for Healing and Nature and Lanisa S. Kitchiner of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.
Jessica Harris, PhD, interim assistant provost and associate professor in the Department of Historical Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences, will serve as the SIUE team leader. She will be joined by Kathryn Bentley, associate professor of theater performance and director of black studies, Courtney Boddie, PhD, director of counseling services, Connie Frey-Spurlock, PhD, associate professor of sociology and director of SIUE’s Successful Communities Collaborative, Bryan Jack, PhD, associate professor of historical studies, and Elizabeth McKenney, PhD, associate professor of psychology in the School of Education, Health and Human Behavior.
“I look forward to working with our campus team at the TRHT summer institute,” Harris said. “Our goal is to develop an action plan and proposal to develop a TRHT Campus Center at SIUE that will serve as a model for community-based racial healing and change in the St. Louis-Metro East region.”
“AAC&U’s institutes provide an important opportunity for colleges and universities from across the country to come together and collaborate on how to achieve our shared objective of advancing liberal education and equity in higher education,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella. “We look forward to partnering with each of the institutions selected to create campus transformation in support of student success.”
AAC&U’s team-based institutes offer campus colleagues a time and place for sustained collaborative work on a project of importance to their institutions. A resident faculty of educational experts and consultants delivers a curriculum focused on important trends, research and best practices.
Photo: Jessica Harris, SIUE interim assistant provost and associate professor in the Department of Historical Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences.