An announcement was sent out recently to all students (including myself) in the “Honors” College, saying that classes would now be built around “social justice” and BLM, Inc. If this is the future of the academy, this is very scary. Whatever happened to the liberal education?

Writes my “honors” college:

Dear Honors Students: 

Though the initial shock of the many tragic, vivid, and visible instances of racial injustice over the past months may have receded in the minds of some, systematic racial oppression has not receded – it continues to reverberate through our institutions, culture, and social relationships. Thus, we must keep our attention focused on this important social problem and be part of the solution.

I write on behalf of the FSU Honors Program during what is still a highly emotional and fragile time for our nation. Repeated public acts of violence against Black women and men are powerful reminders of long-standing and deeply entrenched structural and cultural forces that perpetuate racial inequality. Millions of Americans from all walks of life continue to take to the streets in peaceful protest against oppression and racism and have provoked a national reckoning with the dire reality of ongoing racial injustice. This moment emerged out of the intensive and brave work of many activists over time who have mobilized against the oppression of Black people.  

We in the Honors Program are grateful to the Black Lives Matter movement and to the many people who work for racial and social justice in the United States. Their actions have led us to the current moment of hope and possibility. Now we must unite in our mission to attain justice and equity for all. The FSU Honors Program is committed to creating equity in our program and in our community. Social justice is central to the Honors Experience Program curriculum and to the mission and values of the Honors Program. Still, we have much work to do.

The Honors Program is committed to addressing the longstanding barriers and practices that lead to underrepresentation and exclusion of Black students in our program. To these ends, we are addressing racism through the following actions.

• Our Intentions

• We will draw on the fundamental principles and research about social inequalities to foster dialogue among honors students about how structural inequalities play out in our personal lives and in the institutional structures at FSU and beyond.
• Dedicated recruitment of Honors Colloquium Leaders and other honors student leaders to assure diverse student leadership in the program; these student leaders are important peer mentors, particularly for incoming freshman honors students.
• We are committed to increasing the diversity of honors students and staff and providing a foundation for meaningful inclusion. In accordance with state and federal laws, we will actively prioritize recruitment of Black faculty and staff.
• We will work with the Diversity and Inclusion staff in FSU Admissions and other offices to develop outreach and recruitment strategies that increase recruitment, retention, and inclusion of students of color, particularly Black students.
• We will seek information from students, faculty, and staff that will help us develop policy, programs, and communication strategies that support diversity and inclusiveness.
• We will facilitate and support a student leadership team that can advise the honors program by suggesting specific action steps to make the Honors Program more diverse and inclusive and can hold us accountable.
  

• What We Have Done

• Honors has developed a partnership with the Power of We FSU, an evidence-based social justice program that supports effective and inclusive dialog across difference. We have recruited and are in the process of training students to lead programming designed to facilitate the development of skills essential for meaningful inclusion and equity. The cornerstone event series, Shared Spaces, provides opportunities for people of different backgrounds (e.g., race/ethnicity, social class, political perspective, sexual identity and other dimensions of difference) to engage in unflinching, productive, and inclusive discussions about pressing social issues as a foundation for being effective citizen-leaders and agents of change. We have identified and selected diverse student leadership and are seeking feedback from identity groups on campus to shape program goals. We plan to hold the first event during the upcoming school year.
• We now publish a monthly honors newsletter designed to educate students, staff, and faculty alike on the depth and significant adverse consequences of racial injustice. The newsletter will provide resources for all of us to educate ourselves about the important contributions of Black people to our collective history, base of knowledge and, indeed, the wealth and power of our nation. I thank Christina Archipolo who launched the newsletter and who serves as primary author and curator. In addition, I thank Black students, faculty, and staff at FSU who have worked tirelessly to share their knowledge and gifts to educate us through their work, including this powerful and important message to students:  http://myweb.fsu.edu/jelsner/Letter_to_Black_Students_From_Black_Faculty.pdf
• We are strengthening our Honors Experience Program curriculum and related co-curriculum by: 1) including more works by Black authors; 2) continuing our steadfast mission to examine the relationship between the histories and social forces that create and sustain injustice; and 3) developing more courses that teach the skills required for civic literacy that are foundational for inclusion.
• We have invited faculty whose research and teaching centers around racial justice to present on their work in the first-year honors colloquium. Their presentations will facilitate dialog about important issues of equity and justice in the colloquium breakout sections.
  

Sincere thanks to a diverse and insightful group of students, staff, faculty, and administrators who provided comments on this letter. I am grateful for their work and their continued support of the FSU Honors Program. 

The FSU Honors Program affirms our commitment to racial justice and to overturning inequities and underrepresentation in the program. And we rely on you, students, to help us make significant and lasting social change toward racial justice. You truly are our collective future and you are the reason we do the work we do in the Honors Program. 

In hope and good faith,

I have to laugh at “you truly are our collective future.”

The Best of Atilla Mert Sulker