In the fall of 2021, during her inaugural semester on the UC Berkeley (UCB) campus, Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion Dania Matos invited students, staff, and faculty to participate in a series of “listening sessions” focused on three themes: truth-telling, trust, and transformation. The goals were to provide a welcoming space in which to have candid conversations about the participants’ experiences on campus, to learn what matters most to them, and to create a shared diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice (DEIBJ) vision.
Ultimately, we hope to build an iterative process that recognizes the lived experiences and changing needs of Berkeley’s students, staff, and faculty. In this way, DEIBJ becomes about much more than just the incremental improvement of pre-existing foundations. It represents a dynamic, proactive commitment to identifying where structural inequities exist and taking action to transform the systems and frameworks that caused them.
Spring 2023 Report Timeline
Truth-Telling
Participants agreed that a positive truth-telling culture requires both meaningful action and tolerance. Meaningful action means personal or collective efforts to share diverse perspectives, broadcast true information, and challenge monolithic thinking through honest conversations. Tolerance means both individuals and institutions commit to respecting the expression of different and, at times, difficult truths. It also means assuring community members that they will not be targeted or punished for engaging in the act of truth-telling.
Participants agreed that the strengthening of UC Berkeley’s truth-telling culture needs to start with leadership. A recurring topic was how policy and practice rarely align with the vision and values espoused by leaders. Staff and faculty also pointed out how university messaging around key issues often seems disingenuous and doesn’t reflect lived experiences. Over time, this lack of transparency and/or intentional withholding of information has contributed to a widespread belief that public reputation is ultimately more important than the well-being of the whole community and that truth-telling is only welcome when it casts the university in a positive light.
Trust
UC Berkeley must continually reaffirm its commitment to building and strengthening the bonds of trust that unite its community. This requires a conscious determination not only to allow individuals to express their authentic selves, but also to redress harm caused by structural inequities. Trust can only be earned gradually through collaboration, reliability, and accountability. Many added that while trust often begins with conversations, there must be follow-through in the form of sincere, discernable attempts to collaborate in good faith and honor commitments.
Moving forward, participants want to see a more candid acknowledgment of the structural inequities that currently exist. More importantly, they want to see leadership actively demonstrate its long-term commitment to protecting vulnerable populations. An important distinction was also raised between the macroclimate of trust in UC Berkeley as an institution committed to DEIBJ and the microclimates of trust that exist within individual offices, units, and departments. The siloed nature of these microclimates presents a major challenge for efforts to build and strengthen feelings of trust. UC Berkeley would benefit from a greater emphasis on collaboration and teamwork across campus, improving communication between staff, leadership, and university services.
Transformation
Participants were generally optimistic about the potential for collective action to transform UC Berkeley for the better. A DEIBJ vision can only be achieved through community-driven acts aimed at uprooting systemic oppression and reimagining the institutional structure in which we live and work, and participants want to see the conversation move forward on what dismantling racial and professional inequality actually looks like. Many respondents in privileged positions recognized the need to empathize with marginalized groups and to build an equitable and inclusive campus.
Another area identified for further transformation was the care and support of our undergraduate and graduate students, such as alleviating the burdens of housing and food insecurity and diverting resources to make classes, particularly in STEM, more equitable and effective. Undocumented graduate students also need more financial support, accessible resources, and network-building opportunities.
There was general acknowledgement that the success or failure of our efforts hinges on support by leadership. Emphasis was placed on the importance of uplifting leaders, especially from marginalized groups, who are committed to working alongside the community and maintaining open lines of communication.
This feedback underscores the importance of consistently providing opportunities (such as these listening sessions and recent town halls) for people from different backgrounds to come together, learn about, discuss, and shape the work being done around DEIBJ. For the many staff and students who confessed to still feeling unheard and forgotten, such as those from our disabled community, these events would amplify their voices and provide a chance to participate directly in the process of transformation
Transformation
A hope-driven process of change, growth, evolution, and resistance.
SAFETY
For many participants, the starting point for this process is the ability to feel secure, speak openly, and act authentically in every corner of campus. To this end, they stressed the need to expand “safe spaces:” where they are protected from reprisal and harm; where they can share lived experiences and engage in honest discussion; and where they can address difficult issues, encourage meaningful action, and generate positive change. Many participants shared that they have yet to find a single location on campus where they experience truth-telling, trust, or transformation. Going forward, efforts should focus on bridging these silos to bring people together more effectively.
One solution is to dedicate spaces on campus where individuals from different units and departments can regularly meet to build communities of practice and interest. Social events and gatherings aimed at breaking down barriers can create a culture of cooperation and collaboration between different groups on campus. In particular, staff members emphasized the need to strengthen their relationships with faculty, something that has deteriorated in recent years and resulted in difficult working conditions. Future efforts to extend safe spaces and plan community-building events should recognize the unequal power dynamics that currently exist and build a community that embraces students, staff, and faculty equally.
Some examples of safe spaces on campus
- Classrooms, labs, and office hours
- For staff, meetings and interactions with close colleagues
- Community groups like Alianza, Asian Pacific American Systemwide Alliance (APASA), Asian American and Pacific Islander Standing Committee (AAPISC), the Multicultural Community Center, the School of Public Health DREAM office, and PATH to Care
Moving forward
The Division of Equity and Inclusion is committed to leading with love and collaborating with partners to support every member of the UC Berkeley community. In partnership with many campus initiatives, they’ll be building out the “Thriving Campus” and “Becoming an Anti-Racist Campus” frameworks designed to facilitate coordination and collaboration toward building a culture of community and belonging.
In May 2023, our goal of serving diverse campus communities reached an important milestone when the Department of Education approved UC Berkeley’s request to be recognized as an Asian American and Native American* Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI). This designation qualifies the university as a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) and bolsters efforts to apply for a federal designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) by 2027.
Equity and Inclusion began hosting virtual dialogues in fall 2021 as part of its Building Belonging at Berkeley and Beyond (B4) series aimed at revealing and dismantling structural and internalized oppressions. On February 1, 2023, the UC Berkeley community was invited to join ongoing efforts to dismantle racism by attending a “Becoming an Anti-Racist Campus Virtual Symposium.”
We understand that our journey to build a better university has only just begun, and that more must be done to address the many concerns we’ve heard. We take this responsibility seriously and will continue to reference this report in our work. We also look forward to continuing the conversation with all of you, not only as it pertains to the findings in this report, but also to everything new that we encounter on the unprecedented path we’re forging. We hope that this report and the actions that follow will serve as proof of our commitment to leading with love and transparency as we create space for truth-telling, bolster feelings of trust, and engage in transformative work together.
DEIBJ division
Critical DEI partnerships
- African American Initiative
- Black Lives at Cal (BLAC)
- Native American Initiative
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Initiatives
- LGBTQ+ community
- Disabled community
- STEM community
- The PATH to Care Center
- T.R.A.I.L. Prevention & Response Certificate Training