A Memo from the President: Reflections and Moving Towards Racial Equity
Dear Fullerton College Community,
Last summer the country, including our community, witnessed the murder of George Floyd. Yesterday, we learned that a jury convicted former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of that murder. We have all seen the video of Floyd’s murder at the hands of Officer Chauvin. While the country received updates from the trial and waited to see if this officer would be held accountable for his actions, we must also recognize the many instances in our nation’s history where there has been no accountability for acts like this. While Mr. Floyd’s family and friends, and all Americans witnessed some accountability for the murder of Mr. Floyd, it was bittersweet because Mr. Floyd was still murdered, so there is no true justice for his murder. Even as the Chauvin trial transpired, several other heartbreaking and tragic events, including the killings of Daunte Wright, Adam Toledo and Ma’Khia Bryant have provided reminders that there is so much more work to be done to deliver justice, safety and peace to our Black and Brown communities throughout this nation.
As a Fullerton College campus community, we have a role in creating a better future and helping our nation achieve liberty and justice for all. I know that we have much more work to do as a campus, yet I am encouraged by the work we are doing to become an antiracist College and District, including a review of our policies, practices and procedures; the work being done by the Antiracism Task Forces; and other conversations and planning currently focused on achieving racial equity.
In my own reflection and effort to lead our community towards racial equity, I read an article earlier this spring that resonated with me. I have shared it with some of you in meetings and virtual spaces when we were engaged in campus planning. I encourage you to read it and reflect on what each of us can do to move Fullerton College and NOCCCD closer to becoming antiracist places to learn and work. The article is titled “Avoiding Racial Equity Detours” by Paul Gorski. In the opening paragraph, Gorski writes, “In schools committed to racial equity, educators who resist anti-racist measures should feel uneasy, isolated on the outskirts of their schools’ institutional cultures. I mean this literally. The educators least invested in racial equity should wonder whether they belong.”
If you’d like to discuss the article further with me, I invite you to visit with me virtually, during my open office hour scheduled for this Friday, April 23 from 11 a.m. – noon (Zoom ID: 950 7225 4267, Passcode: 578713). In addition, I invite you to reflect and discuss this article with colleagues in your own departments, or colleagues across our campus.
As we move forward, I hope you stay safe, and I appreciate your work in making Fullerton College a place that is avoiding racial equity detours, and taking steps to become antiracist for our students, employees and the communities we serve.
In Unity,
Greg Schulz, Ed.D. (he/him/his)
President
Fullerton College
