Oregon State University (OSU) is receiving $475,000 from a non-profit organization for a “Transforming Academia for Equity” project that will allegedly promote a “culture of belonging” and develop “anti-racist curricula.”
OSU announced the new grant on Friday. Jonathan Garcia, an associate professor at the university, said: “We try to engage communities in work that provides resources in an equitable way and addresses disparities, either in health outcomes or the way that families and communities are able to access learning and education and well-being across the state.”
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to promoting what it calls “health equity,” is providing OSU with the grant funds. The foundation claims it is working with other groups to “transform inequitable systems and social practices that uphold inequity.”
The first “component” of the grant will focus on “nurturing a culture of belonging for students, faculty and staff,” according to the school. “As part of this, the College of Health now has Latine, LGBTQIA2S+, first-generation and disability affinity groups for members of the college to find community with others who share aspects of their identities.”
The school will also start a new “JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Hub” that will allow community members to borrow books that are “focused on equity.”
The second “component” of the grant will promote “equity-based curricula” through the creation of an “Equity Matters” group that will “meet throughout winter term to plan specific actions the college and individual instructors can take to advance anti-racist curricula in their teaching and learning.” New curricula that fit the new “anti-racist” standards will be awarded an “Equity Matters” badge.
“Equity is integral to all aspects of our work, not just an added checkbox or a component that creates more work,” Garcia said. “We’re looking at it as a core part of our mission as stewards to the rest of the state.”
OSU has previously used grant money for social justice-based research as well. In 2015, the university spent $100,000 on several workshops designed to promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion principles.
Campus Reform reported on a previous Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant for a “Sexploration Project” at Virginia Commonwealth University. The Foundation granted almost half a million dollars to a “white, neuroqueer, trans, cripple punk, sociologically-trained activist scholar” who wants to study “insights into sex/uality, sexual health, eroticism, and pleasure.”
Campus Reform contacted Oregon State University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
This article was written by Brendan McDonald and originally published at campusreform.org
