CSULB invites campus community to join the racial healing dialogue

Jan. 17 is The National Day of Racial Healing, dedicated to contemplating our shared values and common humanity. Launched by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, it is an opportunity to bring people together and inspire collective action to create a more just and equitable world. 

To honor this annual observance, Cal State Long Beach is formally reaching out to share that we were selected in 2021 as a host institution for a Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center with the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U). 

This prestigious award, first in the California State University System, and second at a public university in the state, demonstrates CSULB’s commitment to furthering the goals of telling the truth about race and racial healing as we work to transform our campus and serve our local community. 

The TRHT Center award will allow the campus to centralize strategies, programs, services and resources to enact Beach 2030 through a lens of racial healing and racial justice such that there is campus wide and community engagement and accountability as we work to institutionalize equity-mindedness. These efforts will also promote campus-wide engagement in conversations about race, from an intersectional approach, to become a part of who we are and what we do in alignment with our Beach 2030 values and the equity-minded endeavors underway at CSULB. 

 “The National Day of Racial Healing focuses deep reflection at The Beach,” said CSULB President Jane Close Conoley. “CSULB is committed to growing a culture of compassion, equity, and empathy that eliminates the consequences of systemic racism. Reconciliation is a profound goal that will involve all of us in deeply personal as well as vital systems work. I am grateful that our forthcoming TRHT Campus Center will assist with furthering these aims.” 

Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Karyn Scissum Gunn eagerly shared, “Our campus is more diverse than ever, and social justice movements are at the forefront of our conversations. We are making bold steps forward in equality, and TRHT’s recognition of this represents this important catalyst forward.” 

Community, alumni, and student engagement will be a core element of the TRHT efforts. The campus invites Long Beach community members, alumni and enrolled students to participate as members of the core planning team.

Toward this end, we will ensure all voices are included and will soon make available an application for Long Beach community members, CSULB alumni, and enrolled students to serve on the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Core Team at CSULB. 

To learn more about our campus efforts, visit our Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Center website.