Educational Policy and Community Studies

Educational Policy Department Statement Against Police Brutality and Racial Oppression

The Department of Educational Policy and Community Studies unequivocally supports the protests against police brutality, killing and injustice that have taken to the streets around the nation. We know that racial injustice is deeply rooted in institutions like police departments and schools. American society was “stamped from the beginning,” as Ibram X. Kendi writes, with racism. This current uprising is the most recent example of a long history of legitimate efforts to stand up for real equality and to fight for change. Not just the police system, but all of our systems need to be transformed and racism rooted out.

Our department was founded in response to debates and conflict around racial and economic inequality during the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1970s. We have been addressing issues of racial justice since our department was formed. Creating a safe space for Black, Latinx and other underrepresented racial groups within a large university was a fundamental justification for the creation of our department.

At this time of conflict and hope for change, as a faculty we recommit to extending our focus on anti-oppressive, anti-racist educational practice, seeking to contribute to change in our small way through our teaching, writing and community work. We follow behind the courageous activists and marchers, always learning from our students as we go. We seek to provide spaces in our classes that might support the practices creatively developed in the streets today and in the future.

Have questions about a program or looking for academic or career advice? Our advisors are here to help. Community education majors are assigned to faculty advisors in Educational Policy and Community Studies. The department also offers drop-in advising for new students, transfer students, current students and students seeking information about the program. For graduate programs, we assign individual faculty advisors at admission.