Last summer, after the horrific and problematic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, FGCU President Mike Martin responded to the subsequent protests calling for social justice, stating: “A fundamental value of FGCU is an unambiguous commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and a firm resolve to address racism, bigotry and intolerance on our campus and beyond. Recent events across the nation have reminded us yet again that we must exhibit our values through action.”
During this time FGCU created a Task Force that could examine what steps were needed for the institution to more closely embody its stated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The task force focused on issues like increasing the number of faculty and staff of color at the university and increasing consciousness through events on topics such as bias, racism, microaggressions, environmental racism, voter suppression, dating, and domestic violence. One of the Task Force members, Dr. Ted Thornhill, was ready with another initiative - establishing a center that would add to the academic structure of the university and enable us to address race and ethnic issues from a research standpoint.
A few years ago, Dr. Thornhill made news when FGCU first offered a course titled “White Racism.” The course offering received a lot of attention, with national and international news organizations reaching out to Dr. Thornhill for interviews on what was seen as a “controversial” course and name. Thornhill typically teaches courses on the sociology of African Americans, social class inequality, white racism, and racism and law enforcement. His research has examined how color-blind ideology and organizational policies and practices promote racial inequality, particularly in K-12 and higher education, the labor market, and the criminal justice system.
Moving forward with this initiative, FGCU appointed the sociology professor to be the Director of the newly formed Center for Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. The term “Critical” in the Center’s name is an academic label that refers to an analysis of the systems of power, privilege, domination, and resistance that affect racial and ethnic groups. Dr. Thornhill was intentional about including the term in the name, as it lets the community know that the Center has a focus on academic discourse and scholarly pursuits, aiming to do more than supporting peaceful protests or collecting data for sterile demographic analyses that are devoid of politics.
The Center for Critical Race and Ethnic Studies aims to advance racial justice within communities and organizations in (and beyond) Southwest Florida. The Center seeks to advance its vision by drawing together an intellectual community made up of a multidisciplinary group of FGCU faculty, students, and community members committed to the critical study of race and ethnicity in the US and globally. Its aim is to promote and support research, dialogue, collaboration, and community engagement focused on advancing racial equity. This could include studies on voter suppression, indigenous communities, undocumented immigrants, and undoing the systems of oppression built into our society.
Although the Center for Critical Race and Ethnic Studies is currently led by one person, the Center’s Director, plans for expansion are already underway. Dr. Thornhill has been meeting with FGCU faculty that conduct race-related research, assembling a coalition of faculty affiliates focused on race and ethnicity, racism, and immigration from an academic perspective. So far, the Center has ten faculty affiliates, covering the disciplines and fields of literature, Latin American & Caribbean studies, foreign language, migration studies, sociology, history, multicultural education, and social work. Soon the Center will also have a physical location that students and community members can go to, located on the fourth floor of the library. A combination study and community space is being planned and constructed at the top floor of the Bradshaw G. Wilson Library, which the Center’s Director hopes will turn into a collaborative space that can provide a venue for research, book clubs, workshops, discussions, and lectures. This space is set to open sometime in the Fall 2021 semester.
Dr. Thornhill also seeks to make race and ethnic research opportunities more available to students; the Center is currently piloting an Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, where the Center’s faculty affiliates work with students on faculty-mentored research projects. Dr. Thornhill plans to expand the program in upcoming semesters to faculty at-large.
For the Center for Critical Race and Ethnic Studies to exist as an organization at FGCU sends a powerful statement about the university’s commitment and foci. As Dr. Thornhill explained in an interview for this Scholarly Newsletter, for individuals who are non-white, seeing certain words - like “white supremacy,” “critical race studies,” “white racism,” or “Black Lives Matter” - can have a powerful impact that can validate our lived reality. Establishing a Center like this is an important way that FGCU can address these issues with academic expertise, give voice to students and faculty, and help the campus community appreciate the reality of these issues.
