November 12, 2020

Susquehanna University has become an inaugural member of the new Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Leadership Alliance, one of more than 50 colleges and universities nationwide that will unite to address the unique racial challenges and circumstances colleges are facing.

“Racial equity is one of the thorniest challenges we face as a nation and world,” University President Jonathan D. Green said. “As part of our mission at Susquehanna, we prepare citizen leaders who appreciate, understand and celebrate difference and champion racial equity. It is an honor to be part of an alliance of peer institutions that is dedicated to helping each other advance this important work.”

Led by the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center, the alliance serves its member institutions by offering several tools to support their racial equity work, including:

• A monthly racial equity eConvening series beginning in January 2021. The sessions will be delivered by the experts from USC’s Equity Institutes.
• An online portal of equity-related resources and tools, accessible to all employees at member universities.
• Workplace climate surveys, administered by USC’s Race and Equity Center, that will measure a range of topics related to how employees experience their work environment.

Additionally, presidents of alliance member colleges will meet quarterly to share strategies, seek advice, and identify ways to leverage the alliance for collective impact on racial equity in higher education.

Michael Dixon, chief inclusion and diversity officer, will oversee Susquehanna’s membership in the alliance.

“Susquehanna is continuing to move in an upward and onward direction regarding Michael Dixon, chief inclusion and diversity officer inclusion, diversity and equity initiatives on our campus,” Dixon said. “Active participation in this alliance will allow the focus for this type of work to be centered in the small, private, liberal arts context.”

Susquehanna’s alliance membership underscores the university’s ongoing commitment to being a culturally inclusive campus. In June, President Green launched CenSUs: Everyone Counts, a task force dedicated to assuring the campus is a supportive community in which all members feel welcome and supported. The task force, made up of faculty, staff and students, has developed recommendations for campus safety, training and education, and policies and procedures.