President's Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence

Mason Lighting the Way: Natalia Kanos

Colleen Rich — Mon, 10 May 2021 13:07:57 +0000

Mason Lighting the Way: Natalia Kanos Colleen Rich Mon, 05/10/2021 - 09:07

Mason Lighting the Way

Spotlights from the Task Force

More than 130 faculty, staff and students are working on George Mason University’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force, which is taking a hard look at the current state of diversity and inclusivity efforts at the university and making recommendations for the future.

These individuals come from across our campuses and bring their different skill sets and expertise to this work. In this series, we will spotlight members of the task force and find out what drives them.

Natalia Kanos, Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

Natalia Kanos
Junior, Government and International Politics and Conflict Analysis and Resolution Majors
Committee: Training and Development

Junior Natalia Kanos, who comes from Jos, Nigeria, chose George Mason University because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., and her interest in government.

“I was always fascinated by D.C. and knew there were great opportunities here to get experience in my field,” Kanos said.

One of those opportunities has been involving herself in Mason’s Student Government, where she was speaker pro tempore and now holds the highest office. In April, Kanos was elected Mason’s new student body president. Her running mate and vice president is government and international politics major Veronica Mata.

In a way, she is following a family tradition. Her brother, David, is a Mason alumnus who graduated in 2018 and also served as student body president. In fact, he was the first international student elected to the office. He is also one of the reasons she came to Mason.

Kanos has also worked a research assistant at the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation in the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, where she participated in research on the truth commissions.

“I also did research on religious groups’ responses to COVID-19 around the world and how a government’s partnership with religious groups while making Covid guidelines affected the cooperation of citizens,” she said.

Kanos wanted to serve on the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force because she saw room for improvements at Mason.

“I love the diversity of Mason but saw a huge lacking when it came to inclusion,” she said. “College is supposed to be a place where you are able to express yourself and find yourself. I wanted everybody to be able to feel comfortable in their space.”

Working on the Training and Development Committee also helped her pursue her personal and professional goals.

“[The work] has really allowed me to find my voice and become a true advocate,” she said. “I have also gained a lot of knowledge on [diversity, equity and inclusion] from the other members of the committee.”

She adds: “It was nice to know that others are seeing the issues I see and want to do something about it, especially students.”

While Kanos isn’t sure what her career goals are, she does want to work in government in some capacity and do international work.

“I would like to work in Africa and help advise leaders,” said Kanos, who hasn’t been home to Nigeria because of the coronavirus. “I would love to work with the United Nations too.”

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President's Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence

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Mason Lighting the Way spotlights

Mason’s Carter School prevails in pandemic. Here’s what is on the horizon for its first year.

Mariam Aburdeineh — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Mason’s Carter School prevails in pandemic. Here’s what is on the horizon for its first year. Mariam Aburdeineh Fri, 09/18/2020 - 01:00

The name change to the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution serves as a tribute to the Carters’ steadfast commitment to peacemaking through nonviolence and the transformative role of dialogue and diplomacy in conflict resolution. Photo courtesy of The Carter Center.

In the midst of a pandemic that pushed the spring 2020 semester online, George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR) was undertaking the largest change in its 40-year history—becoming the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

It was a move that put the school’s expertise to the test.

“The renaming of an institution could easily be a dividing process, but we managed to use our own expertise in conflict resolution and peacebuilding to make our renaming process a peaceful one,” said Carter School Dean Alpaslan Özerdem. “The most amazing part of this story is that we have done all this in the midst of a pandemic.”

The switch also occurred during changes in senior leadership, as Mason transitioned between provosts and university presidents. In the process, the school has emerged “more united and with a clearer vision for our future,” Özerdem said.

That vision is inspired by the school’s namesakes, he said.

“With the emphasis on ‘peace’ in our title, we are re-defining our vision in light of the Carters’ legacy in peacemaking, human rights protection and socio-economic development of vulnerable populations,” Özerdem said. “Our future work will integrate peace and justice in a symbiotic relationship.”

What’s going to be different about the Carter School?

“The main change is to ensure a much greater engagement with different actors outside academia, whether they are state departments, legislators, civil society organizations, the private sector or the general public,” Özerdem said. “My goal is for the Carter School to become the go-to place for all matters of peace and conflict resolution, whether for study, research or community engagement.”

One highlight is the new Peace Labs initiative, which will facilitate collaboration between the Carter School and Mason’s other schools and colleges.

The focus will be on cutting-edge research, Özerdem said, such as a Peace Engineering Lab in partnership with the Volgenau School of Engineering to explore new ways of using big data and artificial intelligence for conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Other areas for collaboration may include work around climate change with the College of Science, and a lab on social justice with Mason’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The Carter School will also be playing a role in Mason President Gregory Washington’s Anti-Racism Task Force

Other new initiatives include:

A collaboration with Arlington County and Fairfax City on police, justice and education reform programs;
The Carter School Political Leadership Academy, which will train citizens running for office in conflict resolution skills;
A new graduate certificate in contemporary dispute resolution, focusing on resolving disputes that arise in home and work environments;
The Carter School Buddy Program, through which new students from undergraduate to doctoral levels are being paired with a student mentor; and
Carter School Peace Week, which aligns with the United Nations’ International Day of Peace on Sept. 21 and includes events on peace and justice.

“To ferry S-CAR through the Carter School name change has been the most exciting leadership experience,” Özerdem said. “We showed we can work together, overcome challenges and excel—that’s what I’m really proud of.”

Carter School set to build strong foundation for Mason president’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force

Audrey Williams — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 19:51:40 +0000

Carter School set to build strong foundation for Mason president’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force Audrey Williams Fri, 09/04/2020 - 15:51

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In This Story

Mason community marches on campus to peacefully protest on the Fairfax campus to voice their support for Black Lives Matter. (Photo by: Ron Aira/Creative Services/ George Mason University)

When George Mason University President Gregory Washington announced that he would establish an Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force, he named the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution as playing a central role in building a strong foundation for anti-racism work at the university.

“[The Carter School is] one of the nation’s few schools dedicated to social justice and peace, and one of the very best,” President Washington wrote in his July announcement on the task force’s formation.

Now that the Fall 2020 semester has begun, the task force is ready to begin its work, and a number of Carter School community members will be playing a role in setting a national model for what it means to create a truly inclusive campus rooted in an anti-racist approach to teaching, scholarship, research, and practice.

The task force’s central membership of 32 Mason-based experts, scholars, students, and practitioners includes two Carter School faculty members, Charles L. Chavis, Jr. and Tehama Lopez Bunyasi.

Chavis is an assistant professor of conflict resolution and history at the school, where he is the founding director of the John Mitchell, Jr. Program for History, Justice, and Race. His scholarship and practice focus on “salvaging” the “human story” of marginalized communities through narrative change and critical historiography.

Read the Mitchell Program’s “Letter to White America” in recognition of the 57^th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Lopez Bunyasi is an assistant professor of conflict analysis and resolution at the Carter School, where her work is focused on race, racism, and anti-racism in the United States. Her co-authored book with Candis Watts Smith, Stay Woke: A People’s Guide to Making All Black Lives Matter (New York University Press, 2019), has gained national attention, particularly over the past summer, and was written to help people of all backgrounds open up constructive conversations about race and racism in the United States.

In addition to its core membership, the task force will involve more than 100 people from across Mason’s colleges, schools, and units in carrying out anti-racism and inclusion work across six committees: 1) Training & Development; 2) Campus & Community Engagement; 3) University Policies & Practices; 4) Curriculum & Pedagogy; 5) Student Voice; and 6) Research.

Chavis will serve as a co-chair for the Training & Development Committee, while Lopez Bunyasi will serve as a co-chair for the Curriculum & Pedagogy Committee.

The committees will draw on the expertise of a number of Carter School community members, including Sheherazade Jafari (Director of the Point of View International Retreat and Research Center), Susan Hirsch (Vernon M. and Minnie I. Lynch Chair of Conflict Analysis and Resolution), Al Fuertes (PhD ‘07 and affiliated faculty member), Derek Sweetman (PhD ‘20), and Kat Trejo (bachelor’s student).

Read the complete membership list of the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force and its affiliated committees.

The contributions of the Carter School’s community to the task force reflect its commitment not just to educating peacebuilders and conflict resolution specialists in theories of peace and social justice but also to putting those principles into practice by playing a role in dismantling structural racism and inequality in its own classrooms and hallways.

“Condemnation alone will not do the work that is needed to dismantle systems of racial injustice,” said Carter School dean Alpaslan Özerdem in the school’s May statement against white supremacy. “It is our firm commitment as a School to undertake an ethos of research, teaching, and practice that prioritizes anti-racism and opposes oppression. That means continually engaging in reflective scholarship and practice that contemplates our own place in this system while lifting up the efforts of our community members working to dismantle white supremacy.”

The school’s faculty, students, and alumni are already engaged in scholarship, research, and practice that interrogates the role of white supremacy and systemic racism—and anti-Black racism, in particular—not just across society as a whole but in the field of peace and conflict studies.

One of the Carter School’s initiatives includes its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, which has been working since 2017 to support the school in being attentive and responsive to the various needs and experiences of students from all backgrounds, including those from minoritized and marginalized communities.

“One thing is for sure, DEI work is meaningless if we do not center an anti-racist approach,” said Jafari and Pushpa Iyer (PhD '07), who are co-chairs of the DEI Committee, in a July story for Carter School News.

The Carter School and George Mason University are doing this work in response to and in conversation with the widespread, interracial protest movement in support of Black Lives Matter, which throughout summer 2020 has laid bare once again the enduring nature of white supremacy and anti-Black racism in the United States.

“The fissures of inequality are on full display,” said Lopez Bunyasi in a recent interview with George Mason News. “We are amidst a great reckoning with who we are in this country and who we want to become.”

President Washington Announces Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence

Melanie Balog — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 10:00:00 +0000

President Washington Announces Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Melanie Balog Thu, 07/23/2020 - 06:00

Hello, Fellow Patriots,

In the days that followed the murder of George Floyd, I sent you a message that promised action to address racial inequities that persist here at George Mason University.

As I enter my fourth week as president, I want to share with you the actions we will begin to take, as a community of Patriots.

George Mason University enters this national conversation with an admirable track record as a pace-setter of action for racial justice, and for truth-telling about our own past.

We are proud to draw upon the expertise of:

The Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Center, one of the first of its kind in the nation
The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, one of the nation’s few schools dedicated to social justice and peace, and one of the very best
The Enslaved People of George Mason research and memorial project, the ground-breaking undertaking by our own faculty and students to tell the full truth of our university’s namesake so that we may learn and grow from it.
And of course we take pride in hosting Virginia’s largest and most diverse university student body, with a majority of our students representing communities of color, and our Black student population in particular recognized as among the nation’s top academic performers

These are just some of the many examples of excellence and inclusion around racial justice that the Mason community has undertaken. They make us proud.

But we have work to do if we are to ensure that every student, faculty, and staff member is welcomed and respected as a full equal in this community of learning.

And the uncomfortable truth is not everyone at Mason feels equal, or is treated equally.

So, today I am creating the President’s Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence, and giving its members some big assignments.

We need to know where systems, practices, and traditions of racial bias exist at George Mason University so that we may eradicate them.
We must build intentional systems and standards of anti-racism that will keep racial injustices from regenerating.
I want George Mason University to emerge from this exercise as a local, regional, and national beacon for the advancement of anti-racism, reconciliation, and healing.

This task force will have a broad focus, with particular areas of emphasis including short-term and long-term improvements to how we approach:

Curriculum and Pedagogy
Campus and Community Engagement
University Policies and Practices
Research
Training and Development

The task force will comprise many of Mason’s luminaries in racial justice, who will be joined by national experts in this topic. Members will be announced over the course of the coming weeks, and they will represent the full diversity of George Mason University, including racial, ethnic, gender, sexual identity, and religious identity.

The recommendations that we act upon will be incorporated into the university’s planning and budgeting process to ensure they have the priority and resources to take root and flourish. I am not interested in reports that sit on a shelf, only to collect dust.

Many reforms at Mason will require thoughtful consideration over time by the task force and university leadership. Others are obvious, overdue, and simply require executive leadership.

So, in keeping with my pledge to deliver actions and not just words, I am announcing immediate steps that we are taking to advance systemic and cultural anti-racism at George Mason University.

The many steps that we have identified are available in their entirety on my website, President.gmu.edu. The categories of immediate steps we are taking include:

Policing

In addition to state-mandated anti-racism training for all police personnel, we will convert the existing Community Police Council into a Police Advisory Board that actively monitors the nature of police activity and reports its findings to me.

University Policies

A number of university policies and practices that carry racist vestiges in their practices will be examined and/or curtailed, including:

Faculty salary equity – We will complete and act upon a faculty salary equity review and work with the schools and colleges toward correcting any issues over a three-year period.
Inclusive excellence planning – At the college and school level, we will establish Inclusive Excellence Plans that articulate the vision and definition of anti-racism and inclusiveness for that unit. The task force will develop a metric-driven template for units to use.
Implicit bias training – Mason will establish an Inclusive Excellence Certificate Program that certifies that the schools and colleges have completed Implicit Bias Training and have established Inclusive Excellence Plans.
Implicit bias recognition in faculty promotion and tenure – We will develop specific recommendations for the renewal, promotion, and tenure processes that address implicit bias, discrimination, and other equity issues (e.g., invisible and uncredited labor) to support faculty of color and women in their professional work.
Equity Advisors in every academic department – Equity Advisors are senior faculty members, appointed as Faculty Assistant to the Dean in their respective schools. Equity Advisors participate in faculty recruiting by approving search committee shortlists and strategies and raising awareness of best practices. Additionally, they organize faculty development programs, with both formal and informal mentoring, and address individual issues raised by women and faculty from underrepresented groups.
Recognizing and rewarding adversity barriers in promotion and tenure – We will develop specific mechanisms in the promotion and tenure process that recognize the invisible and uncredited emotional labor that people of color expend to learn, teach, discover, and work on campus.

Racial Trauma and Healing

We will increase the support provided to students, faculty, and staff through Mason’s Counseling and Psychological Services for students, and Human Resources for faculty and staff.

Curriculum/Pedagogy

We will finalize development and implementation of required diversity, inclusion, and well-being coursework.
We will require an anti-racism statement on all syllabi.

Buildings and Grounds

We will convene the University Naming Committee to evaluate names of university buildings and memorials to ensure they align with the university’s stated mission to serve as an “academic community committed to creating a more just, free, and prosperous world.”

Community Engagement

We will grow our K-12 and community college partnerships by 50 percent, and become a true partner in the development of our region.
We will establish a lecture series on anti-racism and inclusive excellence to establish a collective consciousness among the campus community.

Resource Commitments

We will identify associated budget to achieve above immediate actions, beginning with an initial $5 million commitment over three years to strengthen initiatives already underway and to fund critical priorities that need immediate attention.
We will identify an Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Center.

Leadership in an anti-racism environment demands that we recognize how our history has shaped our view of the world and how our own actions can reshape it.

My vision is nothing short of establishing George Mason University as a national exemplar of anti-racism and inclusive excellence in action. Given the considerable head start we have on most of our sister institutions in the United States, this is a vision we can realize.

So, Patriots, let’s get to work.

President's Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence

Mason Lighting the Way: Natalia Kanos

Mason Lighting the Way

Spotlights from the Task Force

Natalia Kanos Junior, Government and International Politics and Conflict Analysis and Resolution Majors Committee: Training and Development

Topics

Mason’s Carter School prevails in pandemic. Here’s what is on the horizon for its first year.

Carter School set to build strong foundation for Mason president’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force

Subscribe for Updates from Us

In This Story

Read the Mitchell Program’s “Letter to White America” in recognition of the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Read the complete membership list of the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force and its affiliated committees.

President Washington Announces Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence

Hello, Fellow Patriots,

We are proud to draw upon the expertise of:

Policing

University Policies

Racial Trauma and Healing

Curriculum/Pedagogy

Buildings and Grounds

Community Engagement

Resource Commitments

Natalia Kanos
Junior, Government and International Politics and Conflict Analysis and Resolution Majors
Committee: Training and Development

Read the Mitchell Program’s “Letter to White America” in recognition of the 57^th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.