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San Diego State University

Undergraduate School

Mailing Address
5500 Campanile Dr
San Diego, California 92182
Phone
(619) 594-5200
Email address
admissions@sdsu.edu
School Information
"Founded in 1897, San Diego State University is a public institution of higher education located in southern California. SDSU is the oldest and largest university in San Diego and the third largest in the state. SDSU continues to gain recognition as a leader in higher education." The university enrolls over 33,800 students and has 96 bachelors, 80 masters, and 21 doctoral programs. (Source: https://admissions.sdsu.edu/about_sdsu/fast_facts)
General Information
San Diego State University has taken steps to politically support anti-racist initiatives. Its website re-directs students to resources offered by the political group, Black Lives Matter. Additionally, the university has begun adding social justice, racial justice, and anti-racism to the curricula of university departments. See developments below:

Actions Taken

Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • SDSU's Center for Inclusive Excellence offers an Implicit Bias Training course which "introduces" such concepts as microaggressions and equity-mindedness to "faculty and staff to support more informed conversations about inequities and social justice issues across the campus."
  • SDSU's Center for Inclusive Excellence offers student "engagement" opportunities which include: "Student facing foundational inclusion trainings such as Implicit Bias & Microaggression Awareness that echo CIE and Professor of Equity curriculum and creates a shared campus understanding of inclusivity," and "A year long foundational social justice certification program called: Identity & Allyship Awareness Certificate."
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • Adding social justice, racial justice, and anti-racism to the curricula of university departments.
  • The Department of Counseling & School Psychology will, "Educate and train students using decolonial pedagogies" and "Educate and prepare students to adopt culturally responsive clinical ideologies and practices (e.g., promoting non-pathologizing frameworks and interventions ) in therapy."
  • SDSU's College of Education, in describing its bachelor's in liberal studies program, states "We endeavor to be mindful to design curriculum and teaching practices that include all students regardless of their race, ethnicity, culture, social class, sexual orientations, gender identity and expression, body identity, religion, linguistic identity, or linguistic abilities" and "We also challenge ourselves and encourage our students to challenge their explicit and implicit biases so that they can create learning environments for all students to achieve."
Disciplinary Measures
  • The university's Division of Student Affairs and Diversity launched its "Inclusive SDSU Communication System" to "document instances that promote our campus commitment, as well as those that fall short. The Division of Diversity and Innovation will use these submissions to identify patterns, to recognize and celebrate extraordinary acts of inclusion, and to develop strategies for community improvement where needed."
Faculty/Staff Requirements
  • The SDSU College of Education 2021-2025 Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan states that it would "Require all faculty serving in search committees as well as MPPs to complete training on implicit bias and microaggressions" and that "Chairs will provide evidence of staff and faculty participation in implicit bias and micro-aggression training."
Political Actions and Support for Anti-Racism
  • Re-directs students to resources offered by the political group, Black Lives Matter.
Program and Research Funding
  • The university has a "Center for Achieving Black Wellness and Anti-Racist Education."
  • SDSU outlines several of its "undergraduate research diversity programs" that "aim to help underrepresented groups succeed in research careers."
Resources
  • The Department of Counseling & School Psychology offered a guide called "Addressing Anti-racism in MFT: Resources" that includes Ibram X. Kendi's "How to Be an Antiracist."
  • San Diego State University’s Library has a resource page dedicated to anti-racism films. These films “explore systemic racism and oppression against Black people in the United States… [with the hopes of raising] awareness about racism and inequality in America and cultivating empathy for the trauma felt in communities of color.”
  • San Diego State University’s Division of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity has created a webpage that outlines “allyship for the African American Community.” On this page, it gives readers several points on how to “strengthen your allyship and demonstrate your commitment to support Black students, colleagues and community.”
  • San Diego State University Library has outlined research materials for teacher education and liberal studies that included a section dedicated to diversity and inclusion in children’s and young adult books.
  • On September 20, 2021, KPBS published an article titled "Myths And Misunderstandings Fuel Controversy Over Critical Race Theory" which discusses the debate on whether or not CRT is being taught in K-12 schools. The article states, "The furor is being fed by social conservatives and right-leaning media who say it is replacing the 'traditional teaching' of history and social studies in K-12 schools." (KPBS is a PBS member television station in San Diego and owned by San Diego State University)
  • On June 16, 2021, SDSU's Academy for Professional Excellence published an article titled "Marching Forward: Coming Together to Integrate a Critical Theory of Workforce Development Using CRT" which states the following: "In its simplest form, acknowledging race as a social construct means you understand that race is not a biological, scientifically proven concept. It’s a social idea that was made up to categorize people in ways that were, and still are, beneficial to those in power (those being- you guessed it… white people)."
  • SDSU's 2020-2021 General Education Requirements included a "Cultural Diversity Requirement." Cultural Diversity courses "examine the complexity of diversity through an analysis of differential inequities, oppression, power, and privilege."
  • The SDSU College of Education 2021-2025 Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan states that it would "Require a diversity statement from each applicant."
  • The SDSU College of Education 2021-2025 Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan states that it would "Consider student implicit bias in course evaluations when evaluating URM faculty for tenure and promotion."
  • The SDSU College of Education 2021-2025 Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan states the following: "Although not included as goals in this Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, social and university and college-level exigencies demand that departments (a) revise curriculum to intentionally integrate topics relevant to systemic racism and anti-Blackness, and (b) conduct analysis of disproportionality in student representation, student perception of climate, and student success. These needs provide the motivation for the formulation of relevant goals at department-levels."
Symbolic Actions
  • SDSU's Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies issued the following statement on its support of the Black Lives Matter movement: "In light of the recent legal ruling which attempts to justify the unjust killing of Breonna Taylor and the reports of human rights abuses against women at a Georgia ICE detention center, the faculty and staff of the Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies reaffirm our support of the Black Lives Matter movement and its efforts to end the systemic racism that has characterized our nation since its origins."
Last updated November 16th, 2023
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