AAC&U’s Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers Initiative Reaches Key Milestone with Launch of New Centers

Washington, DC—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today the launch of new Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the following host institutions:

• Portland Community College (OR)
• Seton Hall University (NJ)
• St. Petersburg/Pinellas Higher Education for Racial Equity (SPHERE) Consortium (FL)
  • Eckerd College
  • Stetson University College of Law
  • University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus
  • St. Petersburg College
  • Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg
• UC Davis Health (CA)

“We are thrilled to welcome these new host institutions into the growing network of TRHT Campus Centers across the country and to both recognize and support their groundbreaking work to promote racial equity and healing,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.

What began in 2017 with the inaugural TRHT Campus Centers at 10 AAC&U member institutions has grown into a diverse network of centers at colleges and universities across the country. The launch of the new centers announced today brings the total number to 55, marking a key milestone in AAC&U’s effort to establish at least 150 self-sustaining, community integrated TRHT Campus Centers.

“Today, as we recognize our progress toward reaching our partnership goals and as we thank the institutional leaders who have joined with us in the TRHT effort, we remain focused not on the numbers, but on the necessary work ahead with a community of educators and students who are dedicating their time and expertise to dismantle racism and racialized practices within our institutions and communities,” said Tia McNair, AAC&U Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Student Success and Executive Director for the TRHT Campus Centers.

TRHT Campus Centers play a vital role in the national TRHT effort to address historical and contemporary effects of racism and to promote transformational and sustainable change. With the shared goal of preparing the next generation of leaders and thinkers to break down racialized practices and to dismantle the false belief in a hierarchy of human value, each campus center uses the TRHT framework to implement its own visionary action plan to promote racial healing through campus-community engagement.

At the annual AAC&U Institute on Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Centers, teams from institutions interested in hosting a TRHT Campus Center come together with teams from existing host institutions to identify evidence-based strategies that support their visions of what their communities will look, feel, and be like when the belief in a hierarchy of human value is no longer held. The AAC&U Institute is central to building the capacity of new and existing centers to further the vision of the national TRHT movement.

“TRHT Campus Centers provide evidence—and hope—that, working alongside community partners, colleges and universities can help transform the racial narrative and heal the wounds of racism’s legacies,” Pasquerella said.

About AAC&U

AAC&U is the leading national association dedicated to advancing the vitality and public standing of liberal education by making quality and equity the foundations for excellence in undergraduate education in service to democracy. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises more than 1,000 member institutions—including accredited public and private colleges, community colleges, research universities, and comprehensive universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, faculty, and staff engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Through a broad range of activities, AAC&U reinforces the collective commitment to liberal education at the national, local, and global levels. Its high-quality programs, publications, research, meetings, institutes, public outreach efforts, and campus-based projects help individual institutions ensure that the quality of student learning is central to their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges. For more information, visit www.aacu.org.