The University Community Racial Reconciliation Project (UCRRP)

The University Community Racial Reconciliation Project (UCRRP) Repair Action Group Meeting Summary Tuesday, June 2, 2009 Ebenezer Baptist Church, 113 6th St. NW

The second meeting of UCRRP’s Repair Action Group was held on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at Ebenezer Baptist Church. The meeting was facilitated by Ms. Selena Cozart. Fourteen participants from the community and the university (students, faculty, and staff) met to discuss the proposal for networking breakfasts and to identify additional focus areas.

Networking Breakfasts At the April 16th meeting of the Repair group, a main point of discussion was the lack of communication between the organizations and individuals in our community who are involved in addressing racial disparities. The need for a body that could facilitate communication and cooperation was endorsed. Dr. Nisha Botchwey suggested that the Repair group investigate the possibility of starting a series of breakfast meetings for the purpose of bringing these organizations together. Discussion at today’s meeting focused on defining the structure and purpose of the proposed networking breakfasts. Important themes included:

 The agenda for each meeting should include (1) information sharing, (2) resource building and (3) a time for networking.  Meetings may need to take place more often than the originally proposed quarterly meetings in order to facilitate networking; however, we also need to allow time in between the meetings to give participants a chance to collaborate.  Meetings should take place in the community and could rotate between a variety of locations. Meeting times should take into consideration the fact that we want to attract a strong participation from community-based organizations. The meetings do not have to occur at breakfast time; however, the times should be consistent.  Meetings could start with a themed discussion led by a panel or pair of speakers representing at least one “expert” from the University and one “expert” from the community. Initial discussion themes could include: employment, income, housing, and education.  An agenda of repair should drive the agenda of these meetings, and we should allow story to frame the meetings. The meetings could open with a story related to the theme of the day that would illumine the theme through truth-telling and historical context.  Discussion about disparities can bring up painful issues. We should make a conscious effort to incorporate the transitions framework into these networking meetings in order to address this.  The networking time should be designed to help coordinate community efforts.  The Repair action group would be responsible for initiating these meetings and putting on the first several; however, the initiative should ultimately become self-sustaining.  In addition to helping improve connections among local organizations, including those affiliated with UVA, these meetings will draw attention to disparity issues, help add value to the work that is already being done and provide an opportunity for identifying gaps. Further, they will give the organizations involved a chance to identify shared resources and programs.

Additional Themes Additional discussion points from the meeting included:

 At some point, the Repair group is likely to bring recommendations before the UVA Board of Visitors. It will take sometime to develop consensus about these recommendations, and there are other actions we can pursue in the meantime such as the networking breakfasts.  Policy recommendations are a long term goal, and actions such as engaging local organizations through the proposed networking breakfasts may contribute towards the development of these recommendations.  Once issues are identified, we need a strategic approach for how to address them. For instance, we could address labor issues in terms of wages, hiring practices, job creation, etc.

Next Steps As an immediate next step, UCRRP staff will develop a visual illustrating the structure of the UCRRP, including the Steering Committee, Action Groups and proposed networking breakfasts.

Repair group members are encouraged to attend the upcoming Dialogues on Race Steering Committee meeting on June 10. UCRRP staff will send out a reminder to the entire UCRRP mailing list as the date approaches.

The Repair Action Group will meet again in approximately 4 weeks. Staff will send out a meeting request to action group members in order to determine the date of the next meeting.

2 Meeting Participants

Lehman Bates: UCRRP Steering Committee | Pastor, Ebenezer Baptist Church [email protected]

Mecca Burns: Director, Presence Center for Applied Theatre Arts [email protected]

Carolyn Cades: Virginia Foundation for the Humanities [email protected]

Selena Cozart: UCRRP Steering Committee | Project Consultant, UCRRP [email protected]

Frank Dukes: UCRRP Steering Committee | Executive Director, Institute for Environmental Negotiation [email protected]

Maurice Hudgins: Interim Minister, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church – Unitarian Universalist [email protected]

Khalifa Sultan Lee: UCRRP staff | undergraduate student, University of Virginia [email protected]

Tim Lovelace: UCRRP Steering Committee | Center for the Study of Race & Law | graduate student, University of Virginia [email protected]

Sarah Malpass: UCRRP staff | UCRRP Steering Committee [email protected]

Leontyne Peck: community member [email protected]

Jessie Ray: UCRRP staff | UCRRP Steering Committee | graduate student, University of Virgina [email protected]

Jean Shepard: member, IMPACT | member, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church – Unitarian Universalist [email protected]

Sherman White: member, Burley High School Varsity Club [email protected]

3 Emerald Young: community member [email protected]