To the Kenyon College Community,
On July 31, President Decatur announced an anti-racism plan for this year and the years ahead. In addition to a focus on meaningful education on anti-racism, productive conversations regarding local law enforcement, and a renewed focus on the mental health of Black students and students of color, the plan calls for soliciting proposals from students, faculty, staff, and alumni for projects that would advance Kenyon’s anti-racism efforts. As the announcement indicates, “Projects could include speakers or programming; educational or training activities; funding toward specific staffing needs or research projects; new initiatives to support student-centered research projects; or other activities.”
With this message we are soliciting proposals from the Kenyon community. These proposals will be evaluated by the Anti-Racism Resource Advisory Committee. The committee has been formed and is composed of Marc Bragin (Kenyon Interfaith Partnership), Isabelle Chritton ’24, Dana Diallo ’23, Rebecca Eckart ’07 (Center for Global Engagement), Abbie Erler (Political Science), Yutan Getzler (Chemistry), JJ Hunter (Athletics), Ben Locke (Music), Mireille Manzella ’22, Ira Sukrungruang (English), and Somphors Tann ’23. The alumni members of the committee will be named soon. I will act as convener of the meetings, but will not take part in the decision-making process.
Any community member considering a proposal should feel free to contact me to discuss the details of the project prior to submitting a final proposal. The committee will review the submissions on a rolling basis.
A complete proposal consists of the following two elements: an initial statement of no more than 1,000 words and a project budget. The statement should describe the nature of the initiative, its rationale, its scope, its timeline, the envisioned outcomes, its intended audience, and general overall cost. The proposal should also discuss in detail how the project will align with the anti-racism plan and with other ongoing anti-racism activities. The budget statement should offer a detailed account of how the college resources will be used. We seek different sorts of proposals, but preference will be given to proposals that seek to confront racism as a fundamental or structural level.
Completed proposals will be passed on to the Resource Advisory Committee for consideration, and they will respond within roughly two weeks. Proposals will be evaluated based on several criteria, with an eye particularly to those initiatives that have the potential to affect multiple parts of the Kenyon community.
To submit a proposal, please complete this form. Questions should be sent to me at masonte@kenyon.edu.
Sincerely,
Ted Mason
Senior Advisor to the President
Associate Provost for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Professor of English