Colleen Hammond | news editor
11/5/2020
On Tuesday, Duquesne University President Ken Gormley announced the creation and staffing of the new Bias Education Response Team (BERT).
Gormley stated that BERT “will serve as an essential tool for education and restorative work within our campus culture.”
The creation of BERT comes in response to an ongoing, university-wide push for greater diversity and inclusion.
On July 27, Duquesne’s Black Student Union (BSU), in accord with a dozen other minority organizations on campus, published a document addressed to Gormley and university administration detailing the specific changes needed to accommodate the unique struggles of minority, and specifically, Black students.
BSU’s demands, which featured a combination of “short-term” and “long-term” initiatives for improving the college experience for students of color, included greater bias education training and stronger repercussions for students and faculty who commit acts of racism.
“While not a disciplinary body, the BERT will provide education and restorative responses to incidents of bias,” Gormley said.
He also announced the co-chairs of the new team: Anthony Kane, director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Jessica Mann, assistant vice president for community engagement.