BLACK LIVES MATTER. 

We stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests world wide. We must acknowledge the devastating effects that systemic racism, oppression, and violence have on the safety, security, and health of communities of color.  We also acknowledge that our investigations and understanding of the biological world have been skewed by bias and racism and that the contributions of biologists of color have been and continue to be stolen, ignored, and hidden. 

As individuals and as a department, we must make sure that all students feel welcome, included, encouraged, and valued.  We must do a better job of not simply confronting racism within our daily lives, but actively living as anti-racists. We take responsibility to constantly push ourselves, our institutions, and societies to enact anti-racist policies, because the status quo devalues Black lives. 

The faculty and staff of the biology department have long sought to increase participation of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color in our courses and community.  However, we know we must do better.  The faculty and staff are committed to educating ourselves on anti-racist ideas, teaching, and policies.  During the 2020/2021 academic year the faculty and staff will meet to deliberately develop specific and attainable actions we will take to further these goals.  We will also host student forums and work with existing student groups to develop these anti-racist actions.

We want to hear from you through these anonymous Google forms.  What can the Swarthmore Biology Department do to reduce racism and its impacts?

Link for current Swarthmore students (those who have @swarthmore.edu emails)
Link for people who don’t have current swarthmore.edu emails.

-Faculty of the Biology Department