Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Center

Goals

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Identify and address structural barriers to racial equity at the College in FY 2022-2025.

• Collaborate on efforts to identify policies, systems and structures that create barriers to student success at the College by conducting focus groups and interviews with key informants and reviewing survey data in fiscal year FY 2022 and FY 2023.
• Collaborate on efforts to identify policies, systems and structures that perpetuate inequities for employees at the College by conducting focus groups and interviews with key informants and reviewing survey data in FY 2022 and FY 2023.
• Recommend changes in practices and policies that create barriers to success or cause inequities during FY 2024.
• Champion strategies to decolonize the curriculum and classroom space in order to create a more inclusive environment in FY 2024 and FY 2025.

Implement racial healing circles and other community based activities on campus and in the community.

• Offer an Inclusive Conversations Series in FY 2022 and ongoing.
• Facilitate Rx Racial Healing Circles FY 2022 and ongoing.
• Record oral histories and transformative narratives FY 2024 to FY 2025.
• Share lived experiences through a podcast series in FY 2025
• Promote external community programs that relate to the TRHT mission in FY 2022 and ongoing.

Partner with justice-focused organizations to eradicate deeply rooted beliefs in racial hierarchies in Prince George's County.

• Create additional partnerships with external organizations that share in our TRHT mission in FY 2024 and ongoing.
• Create a space for dialogue among members of the college community, elected officials, and community organizations to explore narratives of race relations and the local history that has led to these realities at the College and in Prince George’s County in FY 2025.
• Identify areas where the racial hierarchies are most pronounced and detrimental in FY 2024 and ongoing.
• Plan and implement strategies with community partners to address deeply rooted beliefs in racial hierarchies in Prince George's County in FY 2025.

Recent Updates

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Data Collection

Since the spring 2022 semester, the TRHT Campus Center Team has been holding focus groups to learn more about employee and student experiences at the College and obtain feedback related to climate, racial equity, inclusion, and diversity.

During the fall 2022 and spring 2023 semesters, the TRHT Campus Center Team conducted focus groups with various student groups and classes. An external consultant completed a qualitative analysis of this data.

The College received the results of the diversity questions on the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and the Race and Ethnicity Survey administered to students during the spring semester. 

The team concluded the data collection phase in April 2023 with the administration of the HEDS Diversity and Equity Climate Survey. This data collection aims to verify and address structural barriers to racial equity at the College.

TRHT Rx Racial Healing® Circles

Rx Racial Healing® Circles were held during the spring and fall 2023 semesters at the College and during the summer with Prince George's County Memorial Library System staff.

The Rx Racial Healing® Circle is centered around activating local action to promote racial healing and racial equity through active listening and being open to the perspectives and experiences of others.

Inclusive Conversation Series and Programming

The first inclusive conversation co-sponsored with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the 2022-2023 academic year was held on September 19, 2022.

Novelist Marita Golden led a conversation on her book "The Strong Black Woman: How a Myth Endangers the Physical and Mental Health of Black Women."

A panel discussion on "Gun Violence in Our Communities: Prevention, Healing and Justice" is scheduled for November 1, 2023.

S.E.E.D. Day Workshop

On Tuesday, October 25, during the Skill Enhancement and Employee Development (S.E.E.D.) Day, the TRHT Campus Center Team held the workshop “Creating Classrooms Where Everyone Belongs.”

During this workshop, Dr. Marc Lee, Professor Benjamin Hurwitz, Professor Annette Savoy, and Dr. Pamela Marcus discussed how their teaching practices and the creation of inclusive classroom environments generate a sense of belonging for our students.

Additional Funding

In addition to the initial grant received from AAC&U/Meyer Foundation, the PGCC TRHT Campus Center received a second grant of $30,000 from the Greater Washington Community Foundation.