Queensborough Partners with AAC&U
In Fall 2021, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) selected Queensborough Community College to host a Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center. The only college or university in New York City to host a TRHT Center, Queensborough will lead a multi-year initiative to educate, prepare, and inspire the next generation of leaders to transform limiting narratives about race and beliefs in the hierarchy of human value.
At its core, the AAC&U TRHT effort is about providing a platform for the dialogue that is needed to identify and repair institutional structures, practices, and processes that are producing racial inequities in outcomes. While dialogue and relationship building are central to the TRHT framework, a core commitment of the initiative is to leverage the dialogue that the centers generate into action that advances broader institutional DEI goals.
Every TRHT Campus Center has a unique identity with goals specific to the needs of the communities they serve. Queensborough's TRHT Campus Center aligns all of its activities with the equity goals outlined in the College's 2021-2026 Strategic Plan.
TRHT Goals
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Transform the educational and institutional culture of the College
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Deepen Queensborough’s understanding of our students and their experiences
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Provide a safe space for dialogue
TRHT Mission, Vision, and Values
Mission: We promote a deeper understanding of the diverse racialized experiences of Queensborough's students, staff, and faculty and develop new ways to practice relationship building and social solidarity.
Vision: We envision an inspired campus community that is actively engaged in ongoing personal and collective self-reflection about race, respect, and what it means to belong. The sum of these personal transformations leads to policies, practices, and processes that produce equitable outcomes.
Values: The center is committed to transparency, inclusivity, diversity, and authenticity.
Authentic Sharing
Queensborough's TRHT Campus Center is committed to bringing our community closer together, building strong connections and nurturing a sense of belonging across campus. That's why we're thrilled to announce a new one-year storytelling project and invite members of the Queensborough community to join us. We've kicked things off by sharing stories focused on identity—explore them here. We warmly encourage participation from faculty, staff and students as we collectively explore what identity means to each of us.
As we continue this journey, we're committed to making our storytelling richer and more meaningful. Over the next academic year, we will introduce more prompts and host events to reflect on the stories shared by our community.
Together, let's create a campus where every voice matters and everyone feels like they truly belong.
Prompt:
Identity: Meaning and Intersectionality
Belonging: Join the Conversation
Join the TRHT Campus Center team as they reflect on their journey since 2021, discussing insights into belonging and inviting you to participate in the conversation.
TRHT Planning Committee
- Dr. Danny Sexton, Associate Professor, English Department
- Dr. Laura Cohen, Executive Director of the Kupferberg Holocaust Center
- Dr. Amaris Matos, Assistant Vice President for Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
- Dr. Mercedes Franco, Professor, Mathematics and Computer Science Department
