Towards an Anti-Racist Drexel

In 2021, Drexel University’s Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF) released its final report, Toward an Anti-Racist Drexel, which outlined 64 specific commitments the University pledged on its journey to become an anti-racist institution. The commitments are grouped into two macro themes: Demographic Representation, and Culture and Climate, which are then further grouped into six broad themes.

These commitments, detailed below, align with the Culture of Equity imperative, one of the six strategic imperatives and initiatives in the Drexel 2030 Strategic Plan.

Commitments: Demographic Representation

Many of the recommendations focused on an important outcome: increasing the representation of, and cultivating a sense of belonging for, Black/African American faculty, professional staff, and students at Drexel. These four ARTF committees focused explicitly on recruitment: i) Admissions and Prospective Students; ii) Graduate and Doctoral Student Life; iii) Faculty Recruitment and Retention; and iv) Professional Staff Recruitment and Retention. These recommendations are intended to increase representation by addressing potential implicit biases in systems, policies, planning groups, leaders and leadership groups, and in how we recruit and advance students, faculty and professional staff.

1. Addressing Potential Biases in Recruitment

There were some common themes in the overall need for coordinated and transparent recruitment processes, as well as some nuances in how the four committees approached recommendations for different types of populations.

Faculty

The Faculty Recruitment and Retention Committee recommended that the University establish a goal to increase the representation of Black/African American faculty by 10% during the five-year period from 2021-2026 by establishing inclusive and equitable hiring practices that attract Black/African American faculty. This recommendation arose because Black faculty only constituted about 4.1% (51) of the 1,241 full-time faculty at Drexel in 2020. The Graduate and Doctoral Student Life Committee also stated the need for an increase in the hiring of Black/African American and Latino faculty, as did the Undergraduate Student Life Committee. Based on the recommendations, University commitments include:

University leadership making a public commitment, stating a goal and the need to prioritize the recruitment and retention of more Black/African American professors.
Developing and implementing a coordinated University-wide faculty recruitment process that includes a centralized data collection requirement for every faculty search.
Developing a five-year plan for hiring, including metrics for evaluation and accountability.
Developing and implementing a coordinated faculty recruitment process that is clear and consistent across units, with accountability measures. Integrating best practices in inclusive faculty hiring into the recruitment process.
Appointing or designating administrator(s) for academic units to facilitate the faculty hiring process.
Re-establishing and funding an Africana Studies department.

Professional Staff

A review of internal data showed that 29% of professional staff at Drexel were people of color, who were disproportionately underrepresented in exempt, managerial, and higher EEO grade roles, and overrepresented in non-exempt roles. To mitigate gaps in representation, particularly in exempt roles, the Professional Staff Recruitment and Retention Committee report included the following recommendations that have transitioned into University commitments:

Creating a recruitment policy that: outlines best practices and strategies that center diversity, equity and inclusion, contains a comprehensive process spanning the entire recruitment process, and is consistent with Drexel's core values.
Tapping into the local West Philadelphia talent by increasing hiring and professional development of the local community.
Adding “Equity Partners” to assist with DEI strategic goals, culture of equity shift, programming, education and ensuring equitable hiring practices within the unit.
Developing internal talent to alleviate disparity gaps that persist regarding the advancement of people of color.

Overall, the recommendations for increasing representation of Black/African American students, faculty and professional staff highlighted the need for coordinated and intentional processes, explicit policies where appropriate, and specific strategies unique to each of these stakeholder groups. The committee recommendations underscored the fact that while it was important to create access through recruitment strategies, it was equally important to have a campus environment that was welcoming to Black/African Americans who were both members of the Drexel community and neighboring communities.

Commitments: Culture and Climate

While many recommendations addressed increasing representation, as discussed above, many more recommendations focused on Drexel's culture (values in operation including systems, policies, processes, and structures, and artifacts, both visible and invisible) and climate (how Black/African American and people of color experience the organization). These recommendations highlighted ways in which Drexel's culture and climate could be enhanced by centering the needs of Black people while simultaneously highlighting ways in which these recommendations would be beneficial to the entire University.

Recommendations in the culture and climate category are grouped into five main themes: fostering a culture of anti-racism through learning; policies and systems; adequate staffing and resource allocation; faculty diversity and curriculum revisions; and business practices and community engagement.

2. Fostering a Culture of Anti-Racism Through Learning and Education

Although the Leadership, Learning, and Education Committee was specifically charged with focusing its recommendations on the learning and development of the entire Drexel community, all 11 ARTF committees highlighted the need for anti-racism, anti-bias and DEI education. Spotlighted by this committee was the need to “Weave Anti-Racism through all facets of the University's systems and structures and acknowledge harm and disparities to build learning opportunities in support of change, for example, by including systemic racism as one of 'society's most pressing challenges' referenced in our strategic plan.” These recommendations stressed the need for educational opportunities that enhance: faculty competencies in anti-racist, inclusive, and equitable pedagogies; cultural competencies of University leaders and board members; DEI education for professional staff; and education for students. Furthermore, recommendations focused on establishing a baseline for DEI education for all members of the Drexel community, in addition to specialized foci that addressed specific competencies in teaching, supervising, and collaborating across groups and communities at Drexel. Based on the recommendations, the University commitments include:

Enhancing racial literacy by creating learning opportunities at the individual and organizational levels through dialogues, and assigned workshops, films and articles.
Mandating anti-racism training for all members of the University community.
Leveraging faculty expertise to provide guidance and options for culturally responsive counseling and therapy.
Impressing upon leaders the need to prioritize anti-racism and DEI learning, to model behaviors, and maintain accountability.
Identifying solutions to improve the student experience for marginalized, particularly Black and brown, communities at Drexel by implementing rigorous anti-bias and anti-racist training in undergraduate curriculum and corporate training for co-op placements.
Creating an inclusive employee experience that is supported by conditions that reflect and reinforce anti-racism efforts.
Establishing a mental health-focused call center.
Facilitating group sessions focused on mutual racial identity concerns that include students, faculty and professional staff to share in safe spaces.
Launching a social media campaign that draws attention to racial trauma and destigmatizes stress and adversity across the University.
Offering supplier inclusion training and awareness to members of the University community to highlight business opportunities and partnerships with the local minority-owned business community.
Developing protocols and training for faculty engaged in community-facing research with clear anti-racist principles and values.

3. Policies and Systems

4. Adequate Staffing and Resource Allocation

5. Faculty Diversity and Curriculum Revisions

6. Business Practices and Community Engagement

Two ARTF committees, Business Practices and Community Engagement, were convened specifically to examine Drexel's practices in these areas and provide recommendations. Their emphasis was to “ensure that our institutional practices around business and community engagement create access and opportunity for neighbors in a way that is genuinely anti-racist and does no harm” in our education, research, and business partnerships. Recommendations highlighted ways in which the University can continue to work with the Black community in West Philadelphia and the broader Philadelphia community by adopting an equity and anti-racism approach. The University commitments based on these recommendations include:

Reassessing and reimagining community-engaged teaching, research and learning approaches for projects in partnership with the Black community in West Philadelphia; co-developing with the community a vision of what anti-racist engagement would be to promote a culture of respectful and equitable community engagement.
Undertaking a community planning process to define a shared vision for an anti-racist community engagement approach to ensure equity in practices and programs that directly impact the community in which it resides. This should include an examination and accounting of Drexel's impact on the neighborhoods around the University's campus.
Championing access to equitable education opportunities for students residing in West Philadelphia, including deepening beneficial partnerships with Promise Zone schools and developing an intentional approach to recruiting and supporting local students at Drexel.
Publicly acknowledging historical and present-day impact of University expansion, policies and practices on its surrounding historical Black communities, and co-develop a reconciliation plan with community.
Reimagining public safety at Drexel, including an external review of DUPD and an increased investment in mental health supports for the campus community. Invest in a comprehensive campus safety model to mitigate practices that make community residents susceptible of profiling and police misconduct.
Examining practices in real estate development that put the community at risk for displacement due to increasing housing cost burden.
Developing a “Good Neighbor Initiative” with Student Life to address off-campus student attitudes and behaviors.
Considering welcoming programming and community access to on-campus facilities, including the Library and Recreation Center.
Creating clear and welcoming entry points on Drexel's website for the community to engage with University, with a full inventory of community initiatives on campus.
Increasing direct spending with diverse and local businesses.
Removing contracting process barriers to local and minority-owned business participation.
Collaborating and partnering with community organizations to enhance access to opportunities for partnerships with local businesses.

Monitoring Success

Drexel is committed to improving systems to monitor and publicly report representation data, and to regularly survey students, faculty, and professional staff to assess climate and examine trends. The University will also qualitatively assess yearly its progress toward each of the 64 commitments.

Image of success monitoring framework reflecting demographic representation and culture and climate with definitions, connection to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and tracking methods.

Frequently Asked Questions

Appendix: Subcommittee Details

Strategic Plan Alignment

The recommendations of the Anti-Racism Task Force Final Report align with the six strategic initiatives of Drexel's 2030 Strategic Plan.

Learn More About Strategic Plan

Discussion Links Drexel’s Anti-Racism Efforts and Its New Strategic Plan

Three people seated at a table to record a podcast.

In a recorded discussion, University leaders shared how the commitments from the Anti-Racism Task Force are being integrated into Drexel’s ongoing strategic planning process.

Read on DrexelNews

Towards an Anti-Racist Drexel

Commitments: Demographic Representation

Faculty

Professional Staff

Commitments: Culture and Climate

Monitoring Success

Undergraduate Student Life

Graduate and Doctoral Student Life

Admissions and Prospective Students

Faculty Recruitment and Retention

Academic Curriculum and Program Review

Trauma and Mental Health Supports

Professional Staff Recruitment and Retention

Learning and Education

Business Practices

Community Engagement

Policies and Procedures

Strategic Plan Alignment

Discussion Links Drexel’s Anti-Racism Efforts and Its New Strategic Plan