Black Leadership Coalition calls on DePaul president for systemic change

On April 26, DePaul’s Black Leadership Coalition (DPUBLC) and the Black Student Union (BSU) sent an open letter to DePaul President A. Gabriel Esteban requesting that the university implement systemic changes to increase racial equity.  

The letter alleges that DePaul has fallen short on its stated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.

“Students of African descent have the university’s lowest four- and five-year graduation rates at 41.3% and 52%, and are the smallest proportion of students from all racial and ethnic categories,” the letter read, first reported by The DePaulia.

Black students were 6.9% of last year’s freshmen class: 7.9% of all undergraduates and 9.9% of the total student population. Students of African descent make up 13.7% of graduate students yet occupy only 7.6% of graduate assistantships, according to the letter.

On April 1, DPUBLC met with faculty, staff and students of African descent to listen to their experiences and recommend changes for the university to implement.

The letter states that three issues pervaded the discussions:

  1. University Climate
  2. Limited opportunities for advancement and promotion;
  3. Limited Accountability and Commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity

The letter said Black students did not feel welcome at DePaul. Among their complaints were what they call a heavy reliance on a Eurocentric curriculum, indifference and a general lack of support on the part of faculty and administrators, racial hostility, and limited advising and career support.

They say Black faculty and staff expressed a fear of retaliation, social isolation, and a lack of inclusiveness — particularly when they expressed issues related to racism and campus climate.  They also say Black staff and faculty feel they have limited opportunities for advancement and promotion.

They claim there’s a gap between DePaul’s stated commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity and its actual record of accomplishment.

To tackle these issues, the letter lists several recommendations to promote systemic change. These include:

  • Conduct a national search for the permanent provost position.
    “We need a chief academic officer who possesses a sophistical and nuanced understanding of issues of racism and structural inequality,” the letter said. “Ensuring that diverse voices are considered for such an important position is paramount.”
  • Require that future administrative hires demonstrate a record of accomplishment to DEI.
  • Diversify the Board of Trustees and create avenues of communication with diverse faculty, staff, and students.
  • Create a faculty representative position to the Board of Trustees from and selected by historically under-represented faculty.
  • Mandate implicit bias training for all faculty and staff. Faculty and staff are called upon to serve an increasingly diverse student body, and need a better understanding of DEI, racism and structural inequality. Faculty in particular must move to more multicentric approaches to education.
  • Increase funding of Black student organizations and programs.
  • Develop a three-year strategic plan to increase total black student enrollment to 15%, increase Black student retention, increase teaching assistantships for Black graduate students to 15%, increase black tenure-line faculty to 15% of total faculty, increase staff promotion to “Executive, Administrative, and Managerial” and “Other Professional” categories to 15% of total.
  • Create a black faculty, staff and student directory to ensure greater communication.

The groups are asking for a meeting before May 21 with President Esteban and Gerald Beeson, the president of the university’s board of trustees.

Valerie Johnson, Associate Professor, DePaul University Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)

In an email to Esteban, DePaul professor Valerie Johnson called on DePaul to “commit to a substantive and action-oriented strategy to resolve institutional inequities at the university.” 

She also called on all faculty to send a one-line email to Esteban expressing their support for the groups’ recommendations.

All this comes after two College of Communication professors sued DePaul in 2020 for racial discrimination. Former law professors Terry Smith and Sumi Cho also sued the university on grounds of racial discrimination in 2018 and 2019, as reported by The DePaulia.

And in March, eighty-five communication scholars from around the country sent a petition to DePaul, claiming there is systemic racism in the university’s College of Communication, according to The DePaulia.

“I want to thank DePaul students, faculty and staff of African descent, DPUBLC, and BSU for engaging in this discussion, the thoughtful report summarizing key points, and the ideas about how to address the concerns expressed in the document.” Esteban wrote in response to DPUBLC. “I share your concerns regarding Black student recruitment and retention, as well as the work required to improve the climate and success of faculty and staff of African descent. I agree that we can and must do better.
I will discuss your concerns with my leadership team and the board leadership as part of our continuing strategic conversations on these topics.”

DPUBLC-BlackTownhall-Statement