The Center for Cooperative Education and Career Development wants to make it clear to our students, alumni, colleagues, and corporate partners that we believe Black Lives Matter and we stand for the values of anti-racism. We are committing ourselves to ongoing dialogues and educating ourselves around racial injustice. Our team is dedicated to recognizing, listening to, and serving our Black students and alumni who confront the extraordinary obstacles of societal and systemic racism every day.
Career education and development is meant to serve as a tool to propel students and alumni toward the futures they envision, but it is all too often not an equitable experience. We want to acknowledge that while we work towards a better future, our Black students and alumni will continue to face discrimination in the workplace while experiencing organizational and individual racism. It is on us to support our Black students and alumni in navigating this difficult landscape, and to teach our white students the importance of utilizing their voice and actions to address anti-racism in the workplace.
At CO-OPS + CAREERS we commit to:
- Amplifying and supporting the voices of the Black career experience through our blog and social media channels.
- Dedicating a section of our website to resources and support for racial identities (among others) in the workplace.
- Expanding Co-op Institute to include a module on the exploration of identity at work.
- Reinforcing the Co-op Institute module on harassment and discrimination in the workplace to include anti-racism content.
- Collaborating on and promoting programming that honors the experience of our Black students and alumni.
- Providing resources and support specifically for our Black students and alumni.
Through this commitment we will create structures and opportunities to achieve equity for other communities of color at Wentworth.
To our Black community: we hear you; we see you; we support you; and we are taking action.