Mt. Hood Community College

The school’s Board of Directors has determined that the Equity Lens Tool will now be a factor in the admissions decisions process. This is part of a goal “to be intentionally inclusive in our decision-making process and reflect on how our institutional policies and processes might be inherently biased or racist.”

The Board of Education Bylaws state, "The college is committed to diversity and works to ensure proportional representation across all sectors of the workforce, student body, and academic programs."

"Beginning this month [June 2020], facilitation of professional learning around privilege, power, and difference will start with all members of the President’s Cabinet. In July, the Board of Education will also undergo a similar professional learning series, but focused on higher-level leadership appropriate for the Board." This training will lead to the creation of a "cogent college equity plan." This plan will be led by the "Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, who joined the college in February [2020].

On October 7, 2020, MHCC District Board of Education was presented the third session of "the board's Equity-Minded Leadership training series." Traci Simmons, director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, "provided a PowerPoint presentation on Critical Race Theory..." (Page 1) A copy of the PowerPoint is in the PDF link. The PowerPoint taught the "5 tenets of Critical Race Theory." The first tenet was, "Race and racism are central to, and permanent features of, American life. (Page 3)." The PowerPoint goes on to condemn the "fallacy of colorblindness" (Page 12), and "The myth of Meritocracy." (Page 13).

"It will be expected that every member of our MHCC community will do the work of examining and acknowledging our implicit biases, of speaking out and becoming intolerant of racism, and and enduring the many uncomfortable changes and moments that will be necessary to achieve the end of this systemic problem."

One of the objectives of Mt. Hood's 2022 Strategic Plan is to "[p]rovide ongoing trainings and time for teaching staff to integrate best practices for effective and inclusive teaching into their classes, including culturally responsive teaching, experiential learning, and community connections."

MHCC published an article titled, "MHCC Now Offering Multiple Courses Focused on the African American Experience." Sara Rivara, Dean of Humanities and Social Science at MHCC stated, "When the protests and Black Lives Matter movement started happening in Portland, the social sciences and humanities divisions at the college made it a goal to decolonize our curriculum." One Human Development course "will focus specifically on the psychological impacts of institutional racism."

The MHCC District Board of Education released a statement supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and condemning "systemic oppression, violence, and anti-Black racism."

"The MHCC Board adopts the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) framework for embracing an equity agenda, and will create action plans for an equity-minded board and institution, monitor and evaluate college progress on equity goals, and annually evaluate board leadership, effectiveness and continuous improvement on diversity, equity & inclusion goals."

MHCC's "Multicultural and Diversity Resource Center aims to advance a welcoming and inclusive learning environment where individual identities are valued and celebrated..." It adds, "Our work is rooted in social justice, recognizing and acknowledging that various communities across time have been historically marginalized; therefore, we work to dismantle systems of oppression through educational programming and intentionally support communities facing systemic barriers."

Mt. Hood announced that by the end of 2023, the school will have built an Equity Center. This project has received grants totaling $1.2 million.

MHCC's "Equity and Inclusion" website claims it "Develops [the] capacity to understand issues of difference, power, and social justice."

The Board and President "determined five broad areas of action needed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. (DEI)." One goal states, "Leadership through the adoption of a college wide equity lens linked to the college mission." Another adds, "Focus on equity-minded instructional practice."

Mt. Hood's 2022 Strategic Plan includes an "Equity Statement" which reads in part as follows: "[We] hold ourselves accountable to align our systems, policies, practices, and resource allocations to strategically and purposefully advance equity. We recognize the harm done to historically excluded people... acknowledges the importance of the ongoing and intentional work to interrupt oppression and remove barriers that perpetuate inequity."

The Multicultural and Diversity Resource Center hosts the Multicultural Student Graduation which "celebrates and honors students of diverse backgrounds" and is "really important because it gives recognition to communities that often don't get enough credit for their success in education."