UB releases final report on race, equity

A university committee has issued its final report with recommendations for achieving equity across UB, which the campus has begun implementing.

The 264-page report, released to the UB community on June 1 by President Satish K. Tripathi and Provost A. Scott Weber, was issued by the Implementation Committee of the President’s Advisory Council on Race.

Drafts of the committee’s short- and long-term recommendations were shared by the committee in March during three days of virtual town hall meetings seeking community feedback.

In addition to the summary recommendations, the release includes the full subcommittee reports, which offer greater detail on potential steps to be taken in seven key areas: faculty recruitment, mentoring and retention; scholarship, tenure and recognition; staff recruitment, mentoring and advancement; curriculum and pedagogy; student experience and programs; inclusive space; and community engagement.

To review the final report, click here.

In their letter, Tripathi and Weber called the report a “pathway to supporting and amplifying equity in our research, teaching, education and engagement with the broader region.”

While ambitious, the recommendations are realistic, they wrote.

“Moreover,” Tripathi and Weber wrote, “they have been developed with the intention of not only cultivating an inclusive environment at UB but sustaining it for generations to come.”

Tripathi, in the wake of racial and social unrest across the U.S., created the President’s Advisory Council on Race in June 2020 to help the university “dismantle structural barriers to equality” and guide UB toward becoming more equitable in its polices, programs, activities and traditions.

Last fall, Weber charged an Implementation Committee with operationalizing recommendations from the President’s Advisory Council on Race.

Both the president and provost have said this initiative is a top priority for UB and again reiterated that in their letter to the campus community.

The letter, in fact, alludes to the tragedy of the May 14 mass shooting at the Tops market on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, noting that racial hatred destroys lives, creating a climate of fear and leaving communities in anguish.

“At UB, we work to make meaningful change within the context of our mission. And that is what the committee has sought to do,” the president and provost wrote.

“As we translate our values into actions, we will keep the university community updated on the overall progress we are making in implementing these recommendations,” they wrote.

The provost will provide a progress report to the campus each fall.