White Allyship, Action & Accountability 

In the summer of 2020, UC San Diego launched the Chancellor's 21-Day Anti-Racism Challenge to connect as a campus community on how we as an institution, and individuals, advance racial justice and support the wellbeing of our Black campus community members. The Challenge was specifically motivated by the impact of COVID-19 on Black communities and conspicuous acts of anti-Black racism and violence. 

The novel coronavirus has disproportionately wreaked devastation on Black communities, and other communities of color, a consequence of our nation’s centuries-long history of disadvantaging racialized ethnic minorities. It remains unclear what the long-term implications will be once we are on the other side of the pandemic, but compared to white Americans, researchers assert that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) will face a host of health, economic, and educational setbacks that will significantly impair time to recover. [1, 2]

As COVID-19 continued to rage, our nation spiraled into a period of civil unrest following the killings of George Floyd, Jr. and Breonna Taylor by police and Ahmaud Arbery by neighborhood vigilantes, as well as incessant viral accounts of racially biased 9-1-1 calls to report BIPOC for basic civil liberties such as sitting in a coffee shop, barbecuing at a community park, and bird watching. Many of our Black campus community members reported feelings of grief, trauma, and frustration over the barrage of news and images of violence against Black people and mental exhaustion tuning into work each day; teaching and engaging despite internal anguish or navigating re-traumatizing questions and commentary of well-intentioned colleagues on all that was transpiring.

At the close of the 21-Day Anti-Racism Challenge, over 2,000 participants were surveyed on their engagement and program effectiveness. Among the strengths of having gone through the initiative, the campus community cited feeling more informed about racism and that they were more likely to consider how their actions may impact Black people around them.

Participants also shared that they would like the campus to establish additional programming to advance our anti-racism work specifically for white allies, and move our campus community from awareness to action, to better support BIPOC community members.

Initiative Overview

In response to our campus community’s desire to strengthen white allyship, the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion established the White Allyship, Action & Accountability initiative.  The Initiative's aims are to holistically and comprehensively promote anti-racism by strengthening white ally engagement in efforts to mitigate bias and to deepen white ally involvement in educating on anti-racism and driving racial equity at UC San Diego.

The White Allyship, Action & Accountability initiative serves as a self-directed learning plan to develop and deepen white ally capacity to identify, engage, and actively promote anti-racism and a diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus. The resources provided are designed to be self-paced and are intended for white faculty and staff to complete individually, or as a group, to encourage accountability and enhance the overall learning experience. The desired outcome of the initiative is to contribute to a stronger campus culture and climate of care by activating personal accountability, organizational responsibility, and systemic change, particularly regarding race and ethnicity, through leveraging the collective leadership of our institution and working in collaboration with a diverse group of campus partners.  

The program of study and development supports UC San Diego’s goals to achieve inclusive excellence and fulfill our campus vision to exemplars in being a student-centered, service-oriented, public university.

Learning Outcomes

Through this initiative, white campus community members and other ally participants will develop a deeper capacity to:

• Understand and examine the historical, structural, and systemic foundations and constructs of race and ethnicity and their relationship to present-day events, processes, practices, and experiences;
• Positively interrupt racism and bias and to take effective action within their professional spheres of influence;
• Apply a racial lens to analyze and revise current policies, practices, and programs to create more inclusive services, outcomes, and campus culture;
• Understand and examine the role of white allies at UC San Diego in addressing systemic racism and anti-Blackness; and
• Integrate anti-racist principles, practices, and behaviors in their respective roles on campus.

White Allyship, Action & Accountability is open to people of all races and ethnicities, with an intentional focus on the work white people need to do, both individually and structurally to create and sustain change at UC San Diego. All campus community members are encouraged to participate in this intentional effort to address systemic racism at UC San Diego.  You may consider organizing into smaller groups by division, college, and department/unit.