Update on SIPA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Efforts

Posted Jul 12 2021

Dear Members of the SIPA Community,

I am writing to provide an update on SIPA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Initiative, and most importantly to share the findings and recommendations of the DEI Steering Committee. 

As many of you know, we launched this initiative a year ago to critically assess and continually improve on SIPA’s goal to be a diverse, equitable and inclusive school.

Over the past year all of us have been challenged to think about racism and injustice, including the societal and institutional structures that too often perpetuate it.  At SIPA, we have engaged in a thorough process of analysis and self-examination – to consider where we have made progress to achieve our DEI goals, identify gaps in our work and prioritize future actions, and, importantly, to hear from our community so that we better understand and address its concerns, particularly those of under-represented minorities and persons of color.

Before turning to the DEI Steering Committee’s report and recommendations, as well as immediate actions for this summer, I would like to report briefly on actions taken over the past year, which build on the multi-year effort underway. 

Actions Taken Over the Past Year

Since Summer 2020, we have advanced our DEI efforts in several meaningful ways:

  • We added five new part-time faculty teaching new courses in Spring 2021 on a range of DEI-related topics, with two more courses to be offered this coming year.
  • We created five new capstone projects focused on race and social justice, including several that partnered directly with the Harlem and broader NYC communities.
  • We welcomed Letitia James, Attorney General for New York, as our inaugural Beinecke Professor in Spring 2021.  She co-taught the course, “Rethinking Policing in the 21st Century” with Dr. Basil Smikle.
  • We undertook internal assessments of each of SIPA’s key offices and program areas to identify and examine current approaches and consider ways to strengthen our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.  As part of this effort, we convened full faculty meetings to discuss DEI and assess the SIPA curriculum, including core courses.
  • Perhaps most significantly, we established a DEI Steering Committee comprising students, faculty and staff to help guide our DEI initiative. The Committee reviewed past and ongoing efforts to promote DEI at SIPA, identify areas for improvement, and develop a set of concrete recommendations.  
  • To support its work, the Committee engaged an independent DEI consultancy – Iere Strategies – to assist with a comprehensive school-wide assessment that engaged more than 1,000 SIPA students, faculty, staff and alumni through surveys, focus groups and interviews.

I want to thank the members of our community who supported these efforts, particularly the DEI Steering Committee – with special thanks to its two faculty chairs, Senior Lecturer Eugenia McGill and Professor Suresh Naidu.

Steering Committee Findings and Recommendations

Last week, the Steering Committee provided its initial findings and recommendations to me.  I invite you to review the findings and recommendations here.

I am deeply grateful to the Committee for its focus and active engagement across such a broad segment of the SIPA community. This was truly a SIPA-wide effort and I thank those of you who took time to share your views, ideas, and concerns.

As you will see, the Committee has drawn on the consultant’s report to recommend a multi-dimensional strategy over the short and longer term to advance SIPA’s longstanding goal to be diverse, equitable and inclusive. I look forward to working with the Steering Committee and the Diversity Committee and others to develop priorities and accountability processes for the coming year and beyond.

Immediate Actions

SIPA’s DEI Initiative will necessarily proceed on multiple fronts over an extended period. However, I believe two important steps identified in the Steering Committee’s report warrant near term action and can be initiated.

First, we will refine the advisory structure for DEI work at SIPA. I look forward to working with Diversity Committee leadership and members, the DEI Steering Committee and other constituencies to further refine the Diversity Committee so that it can guide our DEI efforts and continue to serve as an effective advisor to the Dean’s office and others at SIPA.  Ideally, the restructured Committee will be in place this fall and I will work with it to develop action priorities for the coming year.

Second, we will hire a new professional to focus exclusively on diversity and community relations at SIPA. With input from SIPA stakeholders with a diversity focus (including students, faculty, staff, and alumni) we will develop the parameters of this position, and I expect to launch a search in early fall.

I look forward to providing further updates as we deeply consider all of the issues and recommendations of the DEI Steering Committee and welcome your comments and suggestions.

Sincerely yours,

Dean Janow signature

Merit E. Janow

Dean, School of International and Public Affairs

Professor of Practice, International Economic Law and International Affairs