COE Faculty sitting at a table for a meeting

Council on Racial Equity and Justice (COREJ)

The mission of the Council on Racial Equity and Justice (pronounced COURAGE) is to elevate research and amplify faculty, staff and student voices on matters of structural and systemic racism, white supremacy, anti-Blackness and the intersecting issues of oppression and power within the College of Education (COE). Members serve as advisors, liaisons, and data gatherers to provide the Dean of COE with recommendations on how to move forward with racial equity and justice initiatives, policies, and practices. Central to the mission of COREJ is having representation from all departments, faculty, staff, and students at all levels. The COE’s values of impact, excellence, diversity, inclusion, innovation, social justice, collaboration and community will undergird the work of the council.

Council Member Responsibilities

  • Operate from a set of principles that are derived collaboratively with other council members
  • Develop an assessment (e.g. equity audit) to research what is being done in each department around racial equity and justice
  • Design a comprehensive plan for COE in addressing inequities, clearly identifying markers of progress, and accountability 
  • Draft a vision for COE to advance racial equity and justice efforts based on data gathered
  • Partner with the COE Senate, COE Faculty of Color, APT Committees, and other COE groups to advance racial equity, and justice goals

Contact & Collaboration Information

Racial Equity Audits require unit reflection on the question, “Where are we building bridges and where are we creating barriers to increasing racial equity for COE students, staff and faculty?”

The COE Racial Equity Audit is designed to uncover and address structural bias in policies and practices. Members of COREJ will be leading/facilitating the racial equity audit process but everyone in COE will be involved as a participant in data collection, briefing and feedback sessions. Parts of the process, involving implementing action steps recommended as a result of the audit will be operationalized by the Dean of COE, department chairs, and other leaders throughout the college.

COREJ Racial Equity Audit

The semester prior to the scheduled racial equity audit review, the COREJ Chair will identify individuals from COREJ to lead different aspects of the racial equity audit team. These individuals will work through the racial equity audit process over the course of an academic semester. At the close of the semester, the team will submit a brief report along with goals, action steps, and timelines to the COREJ Chair. Reports will be collated, summarized, and shared with the COE Dean and then posted on the COE Diversity website. Progress toward the goals of eradicating structural bias will be monitored by the COE Dean’s Office, faculty, staff and student groups (e.g. Faculty of Color, Staff Affairs Committee, Senate).

For a report on COREJ's work from Fall 2020-Spring 2022, please see the "COREJ Report Spring 2022" and/or the "COREJ Report Spring 2022 Executive Summary".

For a summary of COREJ's 2022 Students of Color Experience study (including study overview, data, preliminary findings, and recommendations), please see the "COREJ Study Summary" slide deck.

For questions or comments about any of these documents, please reach out to Dr. Bridget Turner Kelly or Dr. Olivia Williams (contact information above)