Black Lives Matter Blog

New England College Personnel Association Call to Action

We stand as advocates and allies alongside those who are bringing to light the effects of systematic racism and anti-Black police brutality that led to the recent deaths of George Floyd, Amhaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Riah Milton, Tony McDade, Rayshard Brooks, Black Trans community members, and countless others. In response to recent events, we pledge as a directorate board for the New England College Personnel Association and as student affairs practitioners to continue taking initiative to make a difference in Higher Education. We stand in solidarity against racism and prejudices with those who have experienced injustice in Black and other marginalized communities. We recognize that each of us needs to work to play a part in the solution and together as professionals in the field to ensure justice for everybody. To honor the countless victims of police brutality, hangings and systematic racism, we commit to the following actions:

  • Continue to host the annual Social Justice Academy series and share content and information from Social Justice Academy 2020

  • Create events and discussions (such as coffee talks) to discuss anti-racism, social justice, and current events and create action items to use in practice 

    • Examples: Facilitate discussions after collectively watching a webinar/presentation, video or reading articles, recruit presenters or collaborate with other organizations, assist people in making individual action plans and identifying where they are on a spectrum of anti-racism and follow up

  • Sharing resources on topics (i.e. anti-racism, systematic racism, racism in higher education, etc.) that members can use for self-work