- Mailing Address
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375 Church Street
North Adams, Massachusetts 01247 - Phone
- (413) 662-5000
- Email address
- admissions@mcla.edu
- Website
- https://www.mcla.edu/
- School Information
- "Since our inception as the Normal School in North Adams in 1894, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) has provided educational access and exceptional learning opportunities to generations of students and alumni. Over the years, MCLA has evolved to meet the needs of changing times" (Source: https://www.mcla.edu/about-mcla/mission-values/history.php). The college offers over 80 programs of study and 21 majors. The total undergraduate enrollment is approximately 1,500 and the total graduate enrollment is approximately 350. The student to faculty ratio is 11 to 1.
- General Information
- MCLA has enacted numerous reforms in response to the anti-racism movement. MCLA created a Committee on DEI. MCLA received grants by Grants for Arts Projects and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to create the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities respectively. In 2020, MCLA held events for the Annual Day of Dialogue and the DEI Conference, both of which were programs intended to promote discussion surrounding the topic of anti-racism. No mandatory Critical Race Training is required at this time. However, see developments below:
Actions Taken
- Program and Research Funding
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MCLA created a Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
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It was announced on May 13, 2021 that "MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center (BCRC) has been approved for a $20,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support the MCLA Institute for the Dismantling of Racism."
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On December 13, 2018, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation gave a grant of $360,000 in order to create the MCLA Institute for the Arts and Humanities in order "to support a public humanities initiative to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion through community engagement, experiential learning opportunities, and a summer institute."
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MCLA Athletics has created the role of an Athletics DEI Coordinator who serves as the NCAA Diversity and Inclusion designee. MCLA Athletics has also created a Trailblazer DEI Working Group.
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- Symbolic Actions
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The Freel Library released a Statement and Commitment to Anti-Racism on June 9, 2020, stating, "Freel Library believes unequivocally that Black lives matter. We add our voices to those condemning the continued shooting and killing of Black individuals by police and mourning the lives shattered and lost: Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, David McAtee, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, and too many others."
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The Freel Library committed to "using our role as selectors and disseminators of information, literature, and scholarship to amplify BIPOC voices" on June, 9 2020.
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The MCLA Alumni Association Board of Directors released a BLM Board Statement saying that the association will "acknowledge and actively work against the structural inequalities that are ingrained in the fabric of our society."
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MCLA holds an Annual Day of Dialogue, and the 2020 theme was "Creating Change Through Community: Action and Organizing" on October 21. The Day of Dialogue constitutes "a campus-wide day of workshops and discussions that focus on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion."
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