Statement on Dismantling Racism and Striving for Equity
As a racially equitable program we have the capability to transform and dismantle inequities and racism in the field of audiology, speech-language pathology and American Sign language (ASL).
We acknowledge that there are institutional issues of racism, audism/ableism, linguicism, implicit bias, and other inequities within the fields of audiology, speech-language pathology and ASL that impact the access and inclusion to CSD programs for historically marginalized populations, such as students of color, nontraditional students, multilingual students, individuals with disabilities, and the LGBTQIA+ community. Therefore, we commit ourselves to advocating for and dismantle equity and inclusion barriers utilizing an intersectional lens. Current actionable goals are as follows.
We do not require the Graduate Record Examination in graduate applications for our Master's degree program in Speech-Language Pathology due to barriers and biased measures of standardized testing. Additionally, we incorporate holistic admissions processes.
Thanks to donors, we have funding that is designated for our Diversity & Inclusion Fellows and diversity, equity and inclusion work in the department. We continue to seek donations and grants to support our programming.
We will continue to build programming with an explicit goal of recruiting individuals from racially, culturally, linguistically, and gender diverse backgrounds for both graduate and undergraduate programs.
We have implemented coursework in graduate and undergraduate programs to address diversity, equity and inclusion in the fields of speech-language pathology and audiology, ASL and related settings. We will continue to examine course equity gaps and create strategic, pedagogical goals and actions to eliminate them.
Faculty and staff have engaged in and will continue to engage in continued education on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Faculty and students will engage in explicit discussion around the harm of microaggressions and discrimination.
Faculty, staff, and students work to empower individuals with disabilities and communication difficulties across the lifespan by recognizing the history of disability discrimination and its ongoing, compounded harms, e.g., writing ableist speech goals, prohibition on the use of sign language and forcing oralism in education and healthcare settings, instead of providing D/d/hh people with Deaf role models.
Faculty are expected to make a personal commitment to dismantling racism and striving for equity.
Faculty will learn, use, and teach neurodiversity-affirming and strengths-based language.
We continue to evaluate and revise the programs’ accountability mechanism to address microaggression and other discrimination behaviors.
