West Chester University has raised its hand high to act as a catalyst for U.S. social change at a time when a plethora of racial injustices fester amidst another fatal pandemic.

“Courageous Conversations About Race” will take place on Saturday, Sept. 26 from 11 AM-2 PM and will convene the WCU community with neighbors from all corners of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during a powerful Zoom discussion about topics that have fractured society – bystander intervention, healing and restoration, implicit bias, race relations in the workforce, and white fragility.

Registration is open to the public.

The discussion is sponsored by WCU, the WCU Alumni Association, the WCU Frederick Douglass Institute, and St. Paul’s Baptist Church in West Chester.

During the discussion, participants will be divided into one of five groups led by a moderator who is prepared to guide a conversation that will explore uncomfortable issues. As each group reflects on material assigned at the time of registration, participants will be asked to engage openly and honestly with each another. Upon the conclusion of the group discussions, participants will rejoin the larger group, share what they have learned and develop action steps that each will “own” to activate social change. A second conversation is expected to be coordinated following the 2020 presidential election.

“Our nation has reached its tipping point and an exhausted generation has evoked a call to action,” said WCU President Chris Fiorentino. “For civil rights, this is not a moment. It is a movement that requires engagement in critical thinking and problem solving to address systemic racism and inequities. The time is more than right for us to foster meaningful conversations about guaranteeing, protecting, and practicing civil rights. It is the right thing to do.”

Courageous Conversations was a public discussion originally coordinated in Chester County in 2015 by Lisa Croft, family physician and wife of St. Paul’s Senior Pastor Wayne E. Croft Sr., and WCU Professor of Communication Studies Anita Foeman, the lead researcher of the DNA Discussion Project, a nationally renowned campus-wide project that continues to prompt very honest discussions about race following the unveiling of individual DNA results.

Five years later, Foeman and Croft have found an immediate need to link arms once again and launch Courageous Conversations, Part Two. Also joining in the coordinating and moderating of the Sept. 26 event are WCU’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Tracey Ray Robinson; WCU Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies Lisa C. Huebner; and WCU Director of Residence Life Jared L. Brown.

WCU stands aligned in its fight for equality for all and has been nationally recognized for its continuing efforts. The university recently received the 2020 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. The HEED Award is a prestigious honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion, and that weave the essential principals into the everyday work being done on some campuses.

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