Abstract
In this paper, we examine university discretionary interpretation of the 2020 social upheaval that emanated from George Floyd’s murder as an element of university social responsibility (USR) policymaking. The paper addresses two research questions: (a) What are university presidents’ implicit and explicit social justice responses to George Floyd’s death and the idealistic protests of 2020? (b) To what degree are principles of social justice embedded in universities’ intellectual roots and social responsibility? Using a sample of university presidents’ public statements in response to George Floyd’s death and the idealistic protests of 2020, we analyze the response and responsibilities of universities in the struggle for a just society. We cross-check mission statements and strategic plans to corroborate universities’ public statements with their institutional philosophies, mission, and action plans relating to discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities and systemic racism. We use critical discourse analysis and the Voyant Tool to perform a textual analysis of 62 university presidents’ letters and mission statements. They all denounced the dehumanization and inequitable treatment of Black people. An important implication of our work is the sharp difference in the depth and forthrightness of responses by university presidents across university types. Some presidential letters are forthright in their denouncement of the murder of George Floyd and systemic racism, while others were, at best, vague in their approach. Presidential letters disclose their institutions’ priorities, organizational identities, and social responsibility convictions. Overall, mission statements and strategic plans included addressing systemic racism and inequality. While there is no ordered symmetry between presidential narratives and institutional action, we anticipate social responsibility as a core institutional value. We argue for social justice anti-racist platforms as critical dimensions of USR. We call for university milieus that promote a fair and just society among all stakeholders.
Highlights
The collective and cultural trauma of the murder of George Floyd in 2020 thrust society into a series of jolts
Mission statements, and strategic plans as they relate to the role and responsibilities of universities and how they intersect with the broader community in the pursuit of a just and civil society
We detail the results of research question 1, what are implicit and explicit university conceptions and responses to social justice? On average, the length of statements from presidents of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) was longer than those from presidents at Ivy League institutions and Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs)
Summary
The collective and cultural trauma of the murder of George Floyd in 2020 thrust society into a series of jolts. It stirred humanity’s soul and sharpened its conscience receptacles. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement mobilized to new levels of civil rights activism across all 50 U.S states They sought recourse for the escalating brute force by authority figures against Black and Brown people. To explore how universities contribute to society beyond the formal education of their students, two research questions were identified: (a) What are university presidents’ implicit and explicit social justice responses to the murder of George Floyd and the idealistic protests of 2020? To explore how universities contribute to society beyond the formal education of their students, two research questions were identified: (a) What are university presidents’ implicit and explicit social justice responses to the murder of George Floyd and the idealistic protests of 2020? (b) To what degree are principles of social justice embedded in universities’ intellectual roots and social responsibility?
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