University of South Florida

As part of the Department of English's "Anti-racism Commitment," the Department would "explore and develop initiatives to recruit, retain, and support non-white faculty and students across all USF campuses."

USF's 2022 Florida Equity Report states the following: "we are working to continue to increase access to USF for Black students. In fall 2021, the Office of Student Success received a Helios grant to work with the USF Black Leadership Network and consultant, Dr. Lincoln Chandler, to identify barriers to Black student access and recruitment."

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at USF offers "a series of training modules that promotes professional development for staff and faculty on best practices aimed at creating an inclusive environment."

USF's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offers an "Enlightenment Workshop Series" which started in 2020 and has registered over 1200 members of the USF community. The workshops "focus on intersectional perspectives related to bias, cultural competence and systemic racism, with an emphasis on current trends facing Black communities across the African Diaspora."

USF's 2022 Florida Equity Report states that the Office of Multicultural Affairs "deliver[s] trainings that educate students on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion."

As part of the Department of English's "Anti-racism Commitment," the Undergraduate Director and Directors of Creative Writing, Literature, and Professional and Technical Communication would "work with all instructional faculty across all three USF campuses to include intentional assignments and activities designed to promote anti-racism." Additionally, faculty and graduate students would "engage in discussions focused on ways of making our curriculum and our syllabi anti-racist and on developing best practices for handling issues of race, diversity, and inclusion in the classroom."

Provost created a $500,000 research fund to research “systemic racism” and find potential solutions.

The USF "Research Task Force on Understanding and Addressing Blackness and Anti-Black Racism in Local, National and International Communities" funded a project to research lost African American cemeteries.

USF's 2022 Florida Equity Report states the following: "In Fall 2020, USF launched a research initiative and offered grants to faculty to support 23 research projects that address anti-blackness and systemic racism. This $500,000 fund from the provost’s office and the research and innovation office is overseen by the USF Research Task Force on Understanding and Addressing Blackness and Anti-Black Racism in our Local, National, and International Communities."

USF unveiled its Diversity, Anti-Racism, & Equity (DARE) Dashboard. The dashboard examines the demographics of students at USF and those of faculty/staff. This will be used to institutionalize anti-racism.

USF Office of Multicultural Affairs offers Diversity and Inclusion Training Series in Spring 2022 on Diversity & Inclusion, Implicit Bias, and Anti-Racism along with numerous other seminars, workshops, and events covering DEI and anti-racism.

USF developed a new strategic plan to highlight their actions towards diversity, equity, and inclusion with several key initiatives including making “syllabi and curricular updates that highlight diverse scholarship,” to adjust the faculty hiring plan to increase underrepresented groups, and to “proactively track faculty who advance DEI efforts.”

USF offers an Inclusive and Equitable Pedagogy (IEP) Program through a workshop series and Canvas course to highlight diversity, equity and inclusion.

USF’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Opportunity (DIEO) developed an ongoing program for Dismantling Racism Team Study Circles.

USF's College of Arts and Sciences published a list of Antiracist Resources which includes "How To Be An Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi and "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander. The list also includes an October 2020 YouTube video titled "Antiracism in the Classroom with Frank Leon Roberts." 

USF's 2022 Florida Equity Report states the following: "The USF Faculty Senate constituted a Council on Racial Justice that solidified a commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice from the faculty. The council has reviewed aspects of faculty research, faculty awards, and student curriculum to identify opportunities for furthering principles of diversity, equity, and inclusivity in these areas."

In 2022, the Department of Communications at USF published an article titled "Implementing Diversity Training Targeting Faculty Microaggressions and Inclusion: Practical Insights and Initial Findings."

On September 21, 2021, the Office for Institutional Equity published a USF faculty recruitment workshop document titled "Faculty Searches: Advancing Equity, Anti-Racism, and Inclusive Excellence."

On February 16, 2021, USF News announced that the university joined the University of Central Florida and Florida International University, or the Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Universities, in an initiative that "encourages dialogue and meaningful action around social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion."

In response to the deaths of several African American citizens at the hands of police officers, the Department of English at USF stated the following: "We demand justice for them and their families and for an end to police violence and systemic racism. We recognize that their deaths and acts of violence against Black Americans are not isolated instances of extraordinary brutality but further evidence of centuries of normalized violence, structural oppression, and dehumanizing rhetorics [sic] that target Black, Brown, and Indigenous people."