In the summer of 2020, President Neeli Bendapudi charged the to lead a taskforce in bringing forth recommendations to guide UofL in becoming a premier anti-racist metropolitan research university.

“To be an anti-racist institution, UofL cannot rest on the racial advancements of the 20^th century,” Bendapudi said. “We are facing long-held racist beliefs, action and inaction, and we aren’t shying away from the fight.”

The agenda, now in the final stages of development, underscores the strategic vision of the university as a great place to learn, work and invest through celebration of the unique attributes every individual brings to the university community.

“The approach of this work focuses on evaluating policies and institutional behaviors as a means of shifting cultural values and perspectives toward greater racial equity,” said V. Faye Jones, interim senior associate vice president for diversity and equity.

CARA progress

Representatives from throughout UofL’s campuses — faculty, staff, students, trainees (residents and post docs) and administration — helped develop the agenda. These five subgroups of the taskforce have carefully and thoughtfully drafted a report of six priority areas, and action steps, which are now being refined. Completion of a final plan, along with implementation is expected this year.

The six broad priority areas are:

• Culture, Policies, Practices and Procedures
• Equity in Work, Compensation, Professional Development and Reward
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Images and Communication
• Recruitment and Retention of Diverse Talent
• University and Community Relationships

This year the taskforce anticipates a report with action plans for every strategy, a data dashboard making diversity data transparent and accessible and a CARA cultural impact to improve the lived experiences of the entire Cardinal family.

Campus movement

As details of CARA are being finalized, movement to support the agenda is already in motion. Every unit throughout campus is laying groundwork to break down barriers and make changes that reflect our anti-racism goal.

For example, leadership from each of the four Health Sciences Center schools participated in a 10-week immersive executive leadership program with the Aspen Institute focused on leading institutional diversity, equity and inclusion. Not only this, but leaders at many schools and units throughout the university have set aside funding to support dedicated diversity, equity and inclusion positions at the director, assistant dean and associate dean levels.

Faculty, staff and student support is one area of growth. Through the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), faculty, staff and students can receive on-demand access to mentoring, professional development and support leading to success in the academy. Several faculty of color are being supported by their school’s dean and the to participate in NCFDD’s Faculty Success Program designed to help faculty increase research and writing productivity while maintaining a healthy work/life balance. This opportunity will provide needed resources as the faculty pursue tenure. Meanwhile, Human Resources has developed an affirmative action review process for faculty tenure and promotions, seeking to understand whether decisions made regarding tenure and/or promotion adversely impact members of certain groups.

Launched through the Office of Research and Innovation, the new  provides mentorship, funding and other support to high-performing associate professors. The goal is to boost the national impact of the fellows’ scholarship, with a focus on work in diversity, inclusion and community empowerment.

Other actions, too, are helping the CARA progress, as staff and faculty have opportunities to participate in book studies and Continuing ����ֱ�� sessions on the topics of implicit bias, microagressions, power and privilege, health disparities and racial justice. A new Lunch and Learn series also helps welcome, mentor and retain Black faculty, with plans to extend to Hispanic and Latino faculty. Development of a faculty search document, Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Increase Diversity and Excellence (STRIDE) will lead to workforce change, and a new Employee Resource Group is focused on faculty and staff who identify as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The Office of Diversity and Equity, in collaboration with the Employee Success Center, also is working to better incorporate diversity and equity in university onboarding, leadership and retention programs, policies and practices. Programs and services to support employees and students experiencing racial trauma also give credence to one of UofL’s guiding principles as a Community of Care.

A new Undergraduate Student Success Taskforce, coordinated through the Office of Diversity and Equity, aims to make it easier for underrepresented, underfunded and first generation students to have an equal opportunity for achievement. The group will work to improve information sharing, communication and collaboration across units; identify gaps in services, student performance and experience; and develop creative ways to eliminate barriers and build student success. The taskforce will have a plan in place this fall.

A course for first-year students taught by student success center staff also is being revised in time for the new academic year to more intentionally thread themes of diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the curriculum. All GEN 100 instructors will be trained on what it means to be an anti-racist institution and tie the work of CARA to first year students’ experience as they join the university community.

And advancement is working to raise funds for student financial support aimed at racial equity. The School of Nursing’s Breonna Taylor Memorial Scholarship and the J.B. Speed School of Engineering’s diversity education scholarship through are two examples.

New committees and groups

The Student Government Association recently created a diversity and inclusion committee, the Staff Senate created a and new recognized student organizations have launched this year, including the Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA).

Jason Deakings helped lead the effort in bringing together the BGSA. As a CODRE student representative, he’s also helping shape CARA. Deakings worked on a committee to explore anti-racism initiatives at other universities, and had the opportunity to listen to both graduate and undergraduate student ideas and concerns related to the agenda.

“Inclusiveness is of paramount importance for students,” Deakings said. “Even as new RSOs have been created, we are working toward unification and progressing inclusivity.”

Inclusiveness and belonging are key, says Jones.

“We must ensure equity in all of our practices and policies that are inclusive of our multiple identities,” she said.

As the world begins to recover from the devastating effects of the recent global COVID-19 pandemic, we maintain our commitment to providing education that is fair, just and true, and leads toward an end of the devastating effects of the long-term racial pandemic.

The Diversity Leadership Alumni Award will honor a graduate who has demonstrated leadership in promoting diversity and inclusion through their professional and volunteer endeavors. The award winner will be recognized for raising awareness for underrepresented populations and a deep commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The new award supports the university’s goal of being the premier anti-racist metropolitan research university by seeking to formally recognize graduates who are working for social change.

The Emerging Leader Alumni Award will honor a graduate who is 40 years of age or younger for their outstanding professional accomplishments, who demonstrates and upholds the university’s and who is an outstanding ambassador for the university.

“Our graduates are making an impact in Louisville, the Commonwealth and beyond,” said Josh Hawkins, assistant vice president for alumni relations. “I am excited to announce these two new awards that will recognize some of the many graduates who serve as catalysts for change in their communities.”

In addition to these two new awards, the university will continue to give awards for outstanding graduates from each school and college, as well as the prestigious Alumna/Alumnus of the Year award.

The university invites public nominations through May 7 for all awards. Nominations can be made online at .

The program will provide full-tuition scholarships to female and minority students, along with needed resources to earn an engineering degree from either the University of Louisville or the University of Kentucky. Bluegrass Community & Technical College also is part of the collaboration with students first acquiring a two-year associates degree before enrolling in an engineering program in the commonwealth.��

“Building a stronger Kentucky will require deliberate and sustainable efforts to provide equal access to quality education,” said Susan Elkington, president, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky. “This program will give more people a chance to build great careers in fields like engineering.��Toyota is committed to providing resources, time and knowledge to help build stronger communities in which we operate. We’re thankful for great education partners that have the same mission.”

Beginning Fall 2021, 35 students over a five-year period will be selected to receive full-tuition scholarships. The students also will be mentored by Toyota engineers and participate in a paid co-op opportunity with the company, earning $17 to $21 per hour. Additionally, students will complete two to three co-op rotations that will provide critical hands-on experience in multiple areas of the field.

Emmanuel Collins, dean of the University of Louisville’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering, highlighted the program’s focus on increasing diversity and inclusion in engineering.

“There is critical shortage of women and minorities in the engineering workforce,” Collins said. “Toyota’s investment and partnership to help diversify our talent pipeline perfectly aligns with the university’s goals and we are grateful to be a part of this collaboration.”

“Toyota has been a long-time partner of UK since locating in Kentucky nearly 35 years ago,” said Rudolph Buchheit, UK College of Engineering dean. “This is another example of Toyota seeing a need and stepping up to do something about it. It’s imperative to increase gender and ethnic diversity among our faculty, staff and students.”

Stephen Brennen, vice president of production engineering at Toyota’s Production Engineering Manufacturing Center, agrees that strengthening the industry’s talent pipeline and staying ahead of customer demands will require new ways of thinking.

“Not only for the continued growth and innovation of the field, but also to help Toyota move forward as we work toward our mobility vision for the future,” Brennen said.

BCTC’s Provost Greg Feeney echoed the others and added that “diversity creates rich and productive workplaces and communities. We are pleased to join Toyota and our university partners to create opportunities for students.”

Information about scholarships available at is available .

Check out more information in the video below: 

To guide us toward this goal, UofL has launched the Cardinal Anti-Racism Agenda. The agenda entails a phased process, soliciting input from the university community, creating a committee to organize and identify priorities from that input, and seeking approval from the Board of Trustees to get this important, intentional work started.

This goal is an iteration of UofL’s mission of being the “premier, nationally-recognized metropolitan research university,” established in 1997 with the passage of HB1 – the Postsecondary ����ֱ��al Improvement Act. As part of that initial mission, UofL was obligated to serve the needs of a diverse population, including many ethnic minorities and place-bound, part-time, nontraditional students.

Indeed, in the 23 years since the passage of that legislation, UofL has transformed itself from an urban commuter college to a world-class research university. We serve a more racially and socio-economically diverse student population than most research universities in the country, and we have a unique and pervasive relationship with the City of Louisville. We are proud of our progress and of our standing.

However, times have changed, and it is appropriate as a higher education institution to change with them in an effort to achieve the highest ideals of society. It is incumbent upon us to explore and to grow for the purpose of being a model for the communities we serve. That is why we have created this Cardinal Anti-Racism Agenda.

Actions will define who we really are and what we truly believe as a community and there is no better time than now – – to stand on the right side of history.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice … Each of us who works for social change is part of the mosaic of all who work for justice; together we can accomplish multitudes.”

There is no doubt this work will take time and it will take all of us. Our first step is to harness our collective wisdom to lay the groundwork. We have already established a few key commitments, including the recruitment and retention of more Black employees and students, building intentionally anti-racism curriculum across all disciplines, ensuring diverse representation on boards and committees, developing budgets that reflect the priority of diversity and equity and more.��

In the coming weeks and months, the Commission on Diversity and Racial Equality (CODRE), in partnership with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, will lead the charge to engage our community for more potential items to add to our agenda. We will regularly remind our community to to craft an appropriately robust agenda, which will be put in front of the Board of Trustees at the Sept. 24 meeting.

Upon approval from the board, we will put the ball in motion to become a national model of anti-racism, proving that race will not negatively impact anyone’s experience at the University of Louisville.

We’ve made bold steps before. In 1951, for example, UofL integrated our student body several years before most of our Kentucky peers were willing to do the same. Our Department of Pan-African studies is one of the oldest of its kind in the country. We are that provide equal access for Black and Latinx students.

Those bold steps will be the foundation of our new objective. We will continue to lead the way here. We will become the country’s premier anti-racist university. .��

Check out President Bendapudi’s introduction of our Anti-Racism agenda: