The University of Connecticut will require all undergraduates to take its “Anti-Black Racism” course as part of a new social justice requirement to its core curriculum, Campus Reform reported.
On May 17, UConn Provost Anne D’Alleva announced the course will be mandated starting in the 2024-25 academic year. The required course will be similar to a current 1-credit elective that UConn has offered since 2021.
According to D’Alleva, in expecting students to become “leaders in creating a more just and equitable world,” UConn believes a college education should include “opportunities to confront the history and current reality” of “human rights abuses” and “injustice.”
D’Alleva claimed that requiring the Anti-Black Racism course and other changes in the curriculum will be a “departure from the status quo.”
Stephanie Reitz, a spokeswoman with the university, told Campus Reform that the required course was created and approved by the University Senate in a 36 to 25 vote. Refusing to comment on the introduction of the required Anti-Black Racism course, Reitz referred Campus Reform to the University Senate’s discussion on the matter, which included “perspectives” from faculty and students.
The elective course description for the Fall of 2022 said the Anti-Black Racism course instructs students on “foundational concepts” involving Black “consciousness,” “resistance,” “resilience,” and “intersectional solidarity.”
The course aims to teach students how to “Question the consequences of anti-Black racism” and “work to disrupt anti-Black racism for the common good.”
In early May, the university’s Diversity and Inclusion office endorsed the mandated Anti-Black Racism course, saying it was “an important starting point” to address “barriers to success” both on campus and in society.
The Diversity and Inclusion office said the course requirement was especially important in light of the “anti-Black racism that was made apparent” by the in-custody death of George Floyd and the recent efforts by states to ban Critical Race Theory.
