Colleen Kearney Rich

Mason Lighting the Way: Creston Lynch

An advisory board to promote community policing, a required foundational course on diversity and inclusion, and a university-wide infrastructure to promote and enhance anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion were among the recommendations put forward by members of George Mason University’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force at a virtual town hall Tuesday, Feb. 23.

In the most recent episode of the Access to Excellence podcast, President Gregory Washington joined Wendi Manuel-Scott, a history professor in the School of Integrative Studies, and Shernita Parker, an assistant vice president for Human Resources at Mason, via Zoom to discuss the work being done by the university’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force.

As associate director of the LGBTQ+ Resources in the Center for Culture, Equity, and Empowerment (CCEE), formerly ODIME, Kinchen advises student groups, sits on many committees and does a lot of consulting and training with schools, colleges, and departments across the university that want to learn more about working with LGBTQ+ students.

Junior Dominique Dowling has been working to enact social change since high school. She joined the GMU NAACP chapter in her second year at Mason, and now she is the group’s vice president. Through the chapter, she has been involved in numerous panels and committees, which inspired her to do more anti-racism work on campus.“Being part of the NAACP has exposed me to different initiatives and people who have been doing this work for years,” said the integrative studies major. “It made me realize that anti-racism work requires an ongoing dedication because there is always work to be done.”

Members of Mason’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force have been analyzing the state of the university, making recommendations, and preparing for the work ahead. We recently spoke with the task force leadership to see how the initiative is going.