The Social Justice & Equity Committee

We are engaged in the ongoing examination, reflection, and action needed to transform the academic policies, practices, and behaviors that result in inequity, exclusion, and social injustices at WWU. 

Areas of Impact

Social Justice Grants

We have supported 36 projects involving 44 different faculty since 2015 that enhance diversity and social justice in and beyond the classroom at WWU.

Some example projects:

  • The Decolonizing Bellingham Tour highlighting “the history of colonization and racial injustice in Bellingham”  
  • CSE Inclusive Excellence Workshops for STEM -- now being emulated and piloted at UCLA
How to apply

Faculty Learning Labs

We invite award recipients to discuss their work, share knowledge, challenge each other, and learn together in order to:

  • Increase cross-disciplinary communication, community and collaboration among faculty and staff 
  • Identify and address obstacles to the work
  • Identify and address obstacles to structural transformation at Western Washington University.

Campus-Wide Dialog

We host facilitation training and critical dialog sessions such as "Talkin Race" for university stakeholders and the community. At this point, we have:

  • Engaged over 630 participants
  • Provided facilitation training for > 75 facilitators
  • Hosted multiple Talkin' Race dialogs
  • Engaged community members,  Whatcom Community College, and WWU faculty, students, and staff. 

Community Anti-Racist Transformation & Wellness

We offer workshops which focus on the following topics:

  • Developing anti-racist curriculum from a decolonial and abolitionist framework
  • Examining institutional anti-blackness and accountability
  • Interrogating one’s relationship to white supremacy 
  • Developing anti-racist assessment strategies
  • Exploring culturally relevant pedagogies
  • Recognizing and interrupting microaggressions 
  • Strengthening classroom and institutional community