Justice, Equity, & Anti-Racism at the University Level | Ben Munson & Marilyn Fairchild @slpsofcolor

The University of Minnesota's Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences was one of the first programs that we (SLPs of Color) learned that removed the GRE requirement in 2020. There are other universities that do not require the GRE; however, its removal may only be for this upcoming application cycle and not permanent removal. This interview highlights the process behind UMN SLHS's efforts towards establishing a committee dedicated to eliminating systematic racism.

Ben Munson and Marilyn Fairchild from the University of Minnesota discuss their department’s Justice, Equity, and Anti-Racism Committee. Ben is a professor and chair of the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences for the University of Minnesota. Marilyn is a Speech-Language Pathology Clinical Supervisor.

As a heads up, this episode was recorded in September so there may have been changes and work done with their committee since we spoke.

Link to University of Minnesota’s Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences' statement and commitment to justice, equity, and anti-racism: https://cla.umn.edu/slhs/news-events/...

From the UMN statement: "While we are committed to long-term actions, there is clearly a need right now for immediate changes. These are some of the immediate actions to which we are committed:

- We have established a department Justice, Equity, and Anti-Racism Committee who will meet monthly to lead our department’s actions.
- We have created an open forum for students, alumni, and community members to anonymously share their feedback, provide suggestions, and make calls for action to our department. You can fill out this form here.
- We are creating a page on our department’s website to share our progress and provide resources to our students, alumni, and community members to lead and participate in anti-racism and anti-hatred efforts.
- We will no longer require or consider GRE scores as part of our graduate application materials due to the racial, ethnic, and cultural biases inherent in standardized testing.
- We will strive for full participation among faculty members in existing programs to ensure academic success of students of color, including the MSROP program and the TRIO McNair Program. We will develop programs within the department to support our own undergraduate students of color.
- The Department will pay University application fees for individuals who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color who apply to our Au.D. in Audiology program, M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology program, or Ph.D. program.
- We will continue to nominate our incoming professional and PhD students for the Provost’s Professional Educational Diversity Fellowship and the Diversity of Views & Experience Fellowship (DOVE), respectively. "


Timestamps:
0:47 - Introductions
13:13 - So UMN is one of the first universities that we heard of that is removing the GRE requirement for graduate admissions. Can you tell us how UMN was able to achieve that? Was this already in the works prior to this year?
21:40 - What was the process like for UMN to remove the GRE? What is the holistic admissions’ process?
49:44 - How does change come about in higher education?
59:55 - Tell us about UMN’s task force. What is it? What is its purpose and mission?
1:06:05 - What goals does the task force hope to accomplish?
1:10:59 - Are there people of color currently present on the committee?
1:29:14 - What recommendations do you have for other universities to start their own task forces?


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Music in this episode:
Intro Beat by Marcus West
Classic by @gar_doh (Soundcloud.com/emergence_sf)