CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will introduce a series of actions, investments, programs and policy reforms designed to quickly and permanently transform how the university supports, prioritizes and recognizes the research of scholars working on issues of systemic racism in the U.S., Chancellor Robert Jones announced today.
Led by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the Call to Action initiative will establish working groups charged with taking concrete steps in the coming academic year to dismantle systemic racism and injustice. Jones said the measures that come forward from the panels will be both measurable and accountable.
Chancellor Robert Jones
“Recent events have once again underscored the critical need for universities across our nation to prioritize research focused on systemic racial inequities that exist not only in our communities but in higher education itself,” Jones said. “And we must do so with the same urgency, creativity and purpose we have seen in response to the COVID-19 crisis.”
The initial Call to Action component is the Chancellor’s Research Program to Address Racism and Social Injustice. Managed by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in collaboration with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, the new program will invest $2 million annually to support competitively awarded grants to tenured and tenure-track faculty members, an annual symposium of funded projects and an ongoing lecture series.
A first call for research proposals and inaugural awards will be coming early in the fall semester, focusing on three areas:
- Systemic racism and social justice
- Law enforcement and criminal justice reform
- Disparities in health and health care
“This initiative is just the first step as we seek to transform the way our own university supports, prioritizes and recognizes the research of scholars working on issues of systemic racism in the United States,” Jones said. “There are many more to come in the days and weeks ahead.”
Editor’s note: For additional information, contact Robin Kaler, associate chancellor for public affairs, 217-333-5010, rkaler@illinois.edu
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