DEI Statements

October 2021

The School of Communication and Information promotes values of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility as foundations for an academic community that embraces and promotes open exchange and purposeful inquiry. We stand in solidarity with those who experience intolerance and inequitable treatment due to racism, xenophobia, religious persecution, classism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, and their intersections.

As a community, SC&I members – faculty, staff, students, and alumni – strive to bring a socially just future to our community, country, and the world by working to interrogate and overcome the historical oppression of marginalized social groups. We advance these core values as active elements of education, academic inquiry, public discourse, and professional practice. We commit to the recruitment, mentorship, professional development, and retention of a diverse faculty, staff, and student body.

We strive to reach the goals we set for ourselves in our 2021 DEI strategic plan, following Rutgers priorities and guidelines. These include:

1. Recruit, Retain, and Develop Diverse Community
2. Promote Inclusive Scholarship and Teaching
3. Define Sustainable and Substantive Community Engagement
4. Build the Capacity of Leaders to Create an Inclusive Climate
5. Develop an Institutional Infrastructure to Drive Change

We devote ourselves to the work of education and repair that aims to create an environment that is exemplary of social justice, equity, civility, safety, and opportunity to the fullest extent possible.

Together, we impact the present and can create a future where individuals experience the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Members of the Diversity Committee:
Kevin Ewell, Taylor Goulbourne, Shawnika Hull, Emil Lawrence, Dafna Lemish (Chair), Jorge Reina Schement.

December 2020

The School of Communication and Information promotes values of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility as foundations for an academic community that embraces and promotes open exchange and purposeful inquiry. We stand in solidarity with those who experience intolerance and inequitable treatment due to racism, xenophobia, religious persecution, classism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism and their intersections.

As a community, SC&I members – faculty, staff, students, and alumni – strive to bring a socially just future to our country and the world by working to interrogate and overcome the historical oppression of marginalized social groups. We advance these core values as active elements of education, academic inquiry, public discourse, and professional practice. We commit to the recruitment, mentorship, professional development and retention of a diverse faculty, staff, and student body.

We devote ourselves to the work of education and repair that aims to create an environment that is exemplary of social justice, equity, civility, safety, and opportunity to the fullest extent possible. We will accept you for who you are as a human being and treat you equitably and respectfully, just as we expect you to accept and treat others in our community and beyond.

Together, we impact the present and can create a future where individuals experience the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Members of the Diversity Committee:
Kevin Ewell, Taylor Goulbourne, Shawnika Hull, Emil Lawrence, Dafna Lemish (Chair), and Jorge Reina Schement.

Please refer any reports of problems, inquiries, concerns, and suggestions to Associate Dean Dafna Lemish at dafna.lemish@rutgers.edu 848-932-7528

June 2020

We at SC&I stand with Rutgers’ President and the four Rutgers Chancellors in our commitment to social justice.  We are committed to a local, national and international world – where everyone has a voice, everyone belongs and is fully valued. We continue to invest in our teaching, research, and service in the fields of communication, information, and media, in order to make a true difference. We hope our students, faculty, staff, and alumni will embrace the President and Chancellors’ call to craft the next chapter so that “together our story will be one where racism is rejected, where everyone is welcome and respected.”

Jonathan Potter on behalf of the leadership at SC&I

May 31, 2020

We stand hand in hand to bring a better future for Black and Brown people in America and for our country. We are honored to renew our commitment to this work.

To members of our SC&I community, our friends, colleagues, and students,

We have witnessed the range of anti-Black violence that have filled our screens over the last few weeks. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. George Floyd.

We are writing to make clear that, as a community, we stand together in pain, rage, and solidarity against the everyday violence that threatens Black people living in the United States. While we all witnessed the horrifying lynching of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis, we also acknowledge that police violence and brutality is just one manifestation of structural racism and anti-blackness. As scholars committed to an equitable and democratic society, we understand that racial injustice manifests in housing, education, healthcare, criminal justice, and everyday encounters. We know that, as we write, COVID-19 is disproportionately harming Black and Brown people in the United States.

Our hearts go out to the Black colleagues and students in our SC&I community and beyond, who are experiencing the strain of continuing injustices, brutality, and inhuman actions that persist in our society that stem from racist systems of oppression. We in the Diversity Committee of SC&I stand today re-committed to be here for you and to continue our work of ongoing education and systemic transformation within SC&I to create an environment that is exemplary of social justice, equality, and safety, to the fullest extent possible.

As our mission is to research human communication, media, and information, and to educate the next generation of scholars, practitioners, and citizens in our fields, we are also voicing our alarm at the discriminatory and retaliatory treatment by police of journalists covering the current events, as but one additional symptom of the ills that need to be eradicated. We also see in full effect, the growing problem of misinformation strategies being utilized by a range of bad actors to foment further confusion, misdirection, and chaos and we recognize the work being done by many in our community to counter these forces and their influence.

We stand hand in hand to bring a better future for Black and Brown people in America and for our country. We are honored to renew our commitment to this work.

On behalf of members of the Diversity Committee:
Alexa Hepburn, Amy Jordan, Dafna Lemish, Rebecca Reynolds, Khadijah White, and Taylor White-Welchen