Penn State says its making progress on diversity and inclusion despite critical report from Black faculty – PennLive

While the administration at Penn State embraces the spirit of a new report detailing the challenges the authors say are faced by Black professors, the university argues that progress is being made.

Part Two of the More Rivers to Cross report was released Thursday with the authors finding that Black professors are underrepresented in the university system as hiring and retention remain flat over 15 years, and eight out of 10 Black faculty members reported experiencing racism from students, administrators or colleagues.

Obviously, it is with considerable distress and disappointment that we read about the racist experiences described by faculty who completed the More Rivers to Cross survey, university officials said in the statement released Sunday evening. No one in our community should have to endure such treatment.

While university officials say such discrimination and biases have no place at Penn State, they do take issue with some facets of the More Rivers to Cross report.

We embrace the spirit, but not the pessimism, of this report produced by an independent group of faculty members and we share the commitment of its authors that more must be accomplished., officials said.

However, the authors took issue with their report being seemingly dismissed as pessimistic and released a statement Monday saying, One cannot be optimistic about racism, especially when it is ones lived experience.

But university officials say that while more must be accomplished it is important to recognize the tangible progress being made.

The university points to significant increases in the diversity of the student body and the leadership of the university. Students from underrepresented groups represent 13.6% of the student population, an increase of 2.2% between 2019 and 2020, the university states.

Penn State officials also said since the formation of the Presidential Commission on Racism, Bias, and Community Safety last year, university-wide initiatives are underway to combat racism and hate and to increase diversity, equity and inclusion. Key recommendations include:

The university also points to several new programs that include:

One of the More Rivers to Cross reports main findings was the lack of recruitment and retention of Black faculty members. The university noted in its response that Penn State President Eric Barron addressed this to the University Faculty Senate, saying every faculty member plays a vital part of the universitys efforts to increase the hiring of Black faculty, as hiring decisions are largely in the hands of the faculty itself.

University officials do admit progress must be improved and sustained, and the university acknowledged it is troubling that the number of Black faculty members has remained stagnant for the last 15 years.

We will not rest until every student, staff and faculty member feels represented, welcomed and supported. The president, provost, deans, chancellors and administrators across the institution are fully committed to this goal, university officials pledged in their statement.

The university also said efforts are underway that address some of the specific concerns in the report, from a comprehensive study on salary equity to modifying the use of student evaluations, which the report noted are unfair to faculty members of color.

But the authors of More Rivers to Cross said in their statement Monday that the university response seemingly dismisses the perspectives and experiences of Black faculty members. They wrote that our report presents a truth that the administration would do well to consider with serious reflection rather than a perfunctory response and a laundry list of actions that echo the universitys historical and perpetual responses to institutionalized racism.

The authors say the universitys response seems to be more aimed at maintaining the credibility of a process and of a commission that has not yet produced results and does not address the authors recommendations for changes. Those recommendations included:

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Penn State says its making progress on diversity and inclusion despite critical report from Black faculty - PennLive