Volume 2, Issue 3: September 17, 2020
R.I.S.E.* Up Newsletter
*Reinforcing Inclusion through Skill-building and Education
Image of NIC Kay with quote - knowing about ourselves as best we can is a choice that we can make to bring us closer to thriving. Some would say it’s a privilege to thrive. But acknowledging ourselves is a right that we all have.
Renewal and Balance

This week, we will celebrate the Autumn Equinox, the moment when the day and the night are poised in precise equilibrium, a moment in the year that marks balance. In a time when so much feels out of balance, we are encouraged by the moments that remind us that equilibrium is still possible, that the cyclical passage of time and the arc of history can move us towards equity.

Tomorrow at sunset, the Jewish members of our community will mark the beginning of a new year -- the dawning of the year 5781 on the Jewish calendar. This weekend if you hear the sound of the shofar, or ram's horn, being blown -- a Rosh Hashanah tradition -- let this, too, remind you of the ways in which the turning of the year can yet lead us all into a more hopeful future.

In this moment, perched on the edge of both balance and renewal, we recommit once more to the work of human thriving borne of authentic self-knowledge, both here in our community and beyond. Thank you for being part of this work with us.
Division Announcements
Fall Semester Faculty/Staff Book Club Read
Image - book cover of Caste - The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
The registration deadline is TOMORROW, September 18, for the October faculty/staff book club. We still have a few books left, so register now if you'd like to join us!

Our book selection is Isabel Wilkerson's brand-new and long-awaited book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

Described in the New York Times as "an instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far," Caste describes how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.

The book club will meet virtually starting at 11:45 am on the following Thursdays: 10/1, 10/8, 10/15 and 10/22. This program is a "brown bag lunch" meeting. Open to all staff, faculty, and graduate assistants.
Thinking Big series promotional flyer
Boler "Thinking Big" Series
On October 29, 2020 the DEI Division will sponsor a lecture in the Boler College of Business "Thinking Big" Virtual Speaker Series.

The speaker for this program is Randy McShepard, Vice President for Public Affairs and Chief Talent Officer, RPM International. The topic of his lecture is "What is the Value Proposition of Social Justice?"

See the link for a full roster of events and registration information.
R.I.S.E. Higher: Featured Article of the Week
Pandemic Expected to Cause Additional Barriers to Tenure for Marginalized Academics
by Mariah Bohanon
Insight into Diversity, vol. 96, no. 1 - October 2020

Research has long shown that the road to academic tenure in the U.S. is increasingly narrow. Now, the coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating the competitive academic job market and creating even more barriers for those pursuing coveted tenure positions.

Many experts predict that it will be marginalized academics whose careers ultimately suffer the most from these barriers and that these setbacks could have long-term consequences on diversity and inclusion.

.... (click below to read more)
Announcements from our network:
Cleveland Book Week Sept. 29-Oct. 4
Logo of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Cleveland Book Week is a week-long celebration sponsored by and centered on the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Next week's "virtual book week" schedule features a number of events that are free and open to the public.

The prestigious Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, established in 1935 by Cleveland poet Edith Anisfield Wolf, is the only American book award designed specifically to recognize works addressing issues of diversity, race and our appreciation of human cultures. JCU has the good fortune to host two Anisfield-Wolf Foundation Fellows: Dr. Krista Stevens and Zachary Thomas '18.

The week's events include free streaming films from the Cleveland International Film Festival, author programs in the Global Cleveland Sister Cities Conference and Great Lakes African American Writers Conference, an authors' conversation with Charles King and Steven Pinker hosted by the Western Reserve Historical Society, a City Club presentation by author Eric Foner, and a televised award ceremony and documentary on WVIZ/Ideastream hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
promotional image for Cynthia Connolly event September 18
Go LIVE for Equity 2.0

The Greater Cleveland YWCA will sponsor a series of free virtual interviews and discussions with local and national leaders fighting on the front lines for racial equity. The next event in the series, tomorrow, Friday, September 18 at 10:00 am, will feature Cynthia Connolly, Development Director at Policy Matters Ohio and Executive Board member of the Lake Erie Native American Council (LENAC).

On October 9 the series will feature a special program with Dr. Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility.

All installments are free and open to the community. 
Race, Class, and Academic Life

Earlier this morning, the Chronicle of Higher Education hosted a panel discussion of Black academics on the topic of race and academic life. The webinar was recorded and is available to download for free at the link below. Panelists included:

  • Fred A. Bonner II, professor of educational leadership and counseling at Prairie View A&M University
  • Marcia Chatelain, professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University
  • Darrick Hamilton, professor of economics and urban policy and director of the Institute for the Study of Race, Stratification, and Political Economy at The New School
  • Tracey E. Hucks, provost and dean of the faculty at Colgate University
  • Randall Kennedy, professor of law at Harvard Law School