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Brooklyn College

Undergraduate School

Mailing Address
2900 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, New York 11210
Phone
(718) 951-5000
School Information
"Brooklyn College has a student enrollment of 17,811 students—14,970 undergraduates and 2,841 graduates—who come from 143 nations and speak 92 languages. The college offers 176 undergraduate degree, graduate degree, certificate, and advanced certificate and diploma programs in business; education; the humanities and social sciences; natural and behavioral sciences; and visual, media, and performing arts. More than 4,000 students received bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as certificates and advanced certificates and diplomas, at our last Commencement Ceremony." (Source: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about.php)
General Information
Brooklyn College has not yet formally embedded Critical Race Theory into its students' education. However, the College has offered a "professional development" training session to faculty whose classes have the highest grade disparities between racial groups. The training is designed to illustrate the structural obstacles of minority students. No mandatory Critical Race Training sessions are yet required of students. However, see developments below:

Actions Taken

Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • Faculty of classes with highest disparities will be offered a “professional development” training session to illustrate structural obstacles of minority students.
  • BC's Office of Diversity and Equity offers several professional development training programs including: "Implicit Bias: The Keys to Creating Your Bias-Free Workplace," "Remote Teaching and Discrimination," and "The Inclusive Workplace Training."
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • As part of a School Psychology, Counseling, and Leadership course ("SPCL 7922 Multicultural Counseling & Consultation in Schools"), there is a session called "Race & Racial Identity Development," where students must "post to the 'Exploring Whiteness & Racism' journal" and watch a video by "White Fragility" author Robin DiAngelo. During the session, students will "explore the construct of race and discuss several models of racial identity development. We will also discuss strategies for developing an antiracist racial identity."
  • An email from the Implementation Team for Racial Justice "addressed the Team for Racial Injustice’s recommendations on the Diversity of the Curriculum, which placed an importance on developing courses in all subjects that relate to diversity issues. Thanks to this recommendation, each School is developing new courses related to diversity and equity. Psychology faculty are developing a course on Cultural Psychology to analyze racism and cultural diversity," according to the Brooklyn College Vanguard.
Program and Research Funding
  • According to the Brooklyn College Vanguard, "Fundraising to support diversity initiatives at BC have also been made a priority. These initiatives include new programs, development of curriculum, research, training, release-time for outstanding service, and start-up packages for faculty."
  • The Black and Latino Male Initiative is a "project of the CUNY-wide Black Male Initiative, implemented to increase, encourage, and support the inclusion and educational success of students from groups that are severely underrepresented in higher education, particularly African, African American/black, Caribbean, and Latino/Hispanic men."
  • The Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program at Brooklyn College is "designed for New York State residents who belong to groups historically underrepresented in scientific, technical, health-related, or licensed professions or who are economically disadvantaged, and who demonstrate interest in, and potential for, a CSTEP-targeted profession." The site defines underrepresented as "African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, or Alaskan Native" individuals.
Resources
  • The College's Implementation Team for Racial Justice held "two listening sessions specifically focused on racial justice for faculty," according to the Brooklyn College Vanguard.
  • On February 21, 2023, the LGBTQ+ Center at the college co-sponsored an event which discussed the "present state of Black philosophy, the persistence of anti-Blackness within academia, and the ongoing efforts to decolonize philosophy..."
  • On April 19, 2023, the college held an event titled "Is Black Male Studies an End of Race-Gender Theory?," which was described as follows: "Black Male Studies argues that the purpose of racism is to lessen the demographic presence and social capital of oppressed groups through the oppression and lethal extermination of racialized males. This thesis, supported by multiple evidence-based accounts, is met with hostility in philosophy and other humanist sciences despite its empirical basis. If patriarchy and racism are directed toward eliminating racialized males, could race and gender theory as currently conceptualized survive?"
  • The Koppelman School of Business at Brooklyn College offers a concentration in "Diversity and Inclusion in Business" for its undergraduate B.B.A. in Business Administration Program which launched in the Fall of 2021.
  • BC's School of Education outlines the methods in which it incorporates social justice into its educational system and state, "We educate teacher candidates and other school personnel about issues of social injustice such as institutionalized racism, sexism, classism and heterosexism...and invite them to develop strategies and practices that challenge biases against non-English speakers, immigrants and those with special needs." The outline continues, "Our teacher candidates and other school personnel are prepared to demonstrate a knowledge of, language for, and the ability to create educational environments based on various theories of social justice" and "We develop in our students a deeper understanding of the quest for social justice."
Last updated November 16th, 2023
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