Time’s Up on Racism
Enough is enough. Time’s up on racism. Racism in policies, procedures, practices, decision-making, interactions with one another, and in behaviors and thoughts.
Stop the Clock
On Monday, August 17, 2020 at 8:46 am, we will be stopping the clock in the main plaza, right in the center of campus.
The time of 8:46 represents the last 8 minutes and 46 seconds of George Floyd’s life. Mr. Floyd was killed while in handcuffs, by a police officer’s knee on his neck, in broad daylight, while being recorded, on the street in Minnesota.
Mr. Floyd, a peaceful, unarmed black man, was accused and arrested for a non-violent crime.
In solidarity with the peaceful protesters and in memory of Mr. Floyd and other black victims, Purchase College will literally and figuratively stop the clock on racism and bias on our campus.
The clock will not be restarted until our campus community of faculty, staff, and students has broadened our understanding and awareness of implicit and explicit biases by completing the virtual online bias training.
In light of what’s currently happening in the world this online training is only the first step and one module of bias training that we will be providing.
This is not just a quick one and done training program to say that we provided and completed training on our campus. Our commitment to these efforts and actual change is much deeper than that.
In addition to the online training module, we will provide the previously planned, multi-series, multi-level in-person interactive trainings for every stakeholder group on campus.
Once launched on August 17, 2020, the online bias training module will be available to complete at any time. However, to further demonstrate our community’s commitment, the college has identified and dedicated some days for us to complete the bias training together.
We are aiming for 100% participation and completion. To acknowledge completion of the training, your enhanced understanding, awareness and identification of bias and to demonstrate unity in our community, upon completion of training everyone shall receive a certificate.
It is on all of us to work for positive change. Help us to dismantle bias on our campus and achieve one of the nine Actions for Change identified by the Office of Diversity and Compliance in our campus action plan.