Forced Reflections: How Small Steps Can Elevate Discussion of Racial Justice at a Catholic College

• In Event: “How Do I Move Forward . . .?” Catholic Colleges and Universities' Efforts to Transform Systemic Racism

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Catholic colleges and universities (CCUs) are called to “promote justice for all” (Ex Corde 1990, § 32), and must build “empathy of the privileged toward the plight of those racially marked as ‘other’” (Massingale, 2014, p. 138). This study explores how a small request of faculty to reflect on an antiracist statement might provide opportunities for students to engage with systemic inequalities within their core courses, and potentially have an impact on the course design and pedagogy for the professor.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: This study was guided by Critical Race Theory (CRT) and White Racial Consciousness and Faculty Behavior (WRC/FB) model. CRT is an interdisciplinary theory that seeks to transform racial oppression in education (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). Directly acknowledging and aggressively resisting unequal structures in education is necessary for confronting white supremacy and racial oppression (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). In the WRC/FB model, faculty consciousness⸺or depth of understanding of racial equity⸺grounds the conscious and unconscious pedagogical decisions that white faculty make about how to instruct and design courses (Haynes, 2023).
METHODOLOGY: This study examined 41 faculty applications for courses to count as fulfilling core learning outcomes across disciplines that students must complete to graduate. As part of the application, faculty were asked⸺not required⸺to reflect on how the course contributes to the college-wide goals of confronting systemic inequalities by cultivating empathy and committing to reviewing institutional practices and policies to ensure our community is both just and equitable.
Each application was qualitatively coded by both researchers. Key themes were identified through a process of initial coding, selective coding, theoretical coherence, and memo writing (Charmaz, 2000; Miles & Huberman, 1994). All were coded in an iterative process to ensure that codes were validly and consistently applied. Data were then reorganized according to broader analytic interpretations and compared to both theoretical frameworks to generate meaning (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
RESULTS: While some faculty responded by noting what students would learn (e.g., exploring anti-Slavic sentiment in a music course) and others how they would learn (e.g., utilizing mastery-based assessments in a physics course), the majority of courses did not emphasize racial justice. Courses might take up themes of racial justice, but just as one component of the course. For example, in a philosophy course students read authors like Ibram Kendi and Kimberle Crenshaw in a unit on antiracism. Thus, most classes did not focus on addressing systemic inequalities, but rather included surface level applications to content, not larger frameworks, approaches, or pedagogical techniques.
SCHOLARLY SIGNIFICANCE: Courses can help students become more aware of their own privilege and develop empathy for those from different backgrounds, especially at predominantly white institutions (e.g., Scheid & Vasko, 2014). At a small, traditional Catholic college, assessing a short, optional reflection on issues of racial justice might begin to change the larger framework and culture across the curriculum. The study offers insight into how faculty awareness of their own beliefs about racial justice may influence antiracist learning in the classroom.

Authors

• Aubrey Scheopner Torres, Saint Anselm College

• Sara Smits Keeney, Saint Anselm College