The Josie R. Johnson Human Rights and Social Justice Award was established in honor of Dr. Josie R. Johnson in recognition of her lifelong contributions to human rights and social justice, which guided her work with the civil rights movement, years of community service, and tenure at the University of Minnesota. The award honors University of Minnesota faculty, staff, and students who, through their principles and practices, exemplify Dr. Johnson’s standard of excellence in creating respectful and inclusive living, learning, and working environments.

"...I find it interesting and ironic that throughout history, social justice movements have often been viewed as anti-democratic, when in fact they are anything but. In my days of student organizing and activism, we challenged the “establishment” orthodoxies that kept people on the margins, kept communities entrenched in poverty, ravaged our environment, and militarized our foreign policy.

"But we never, ever posed a challenge to democracy. Indeed, we were struggling to fix democracy with more democracy, and to make our institutions more democratic. After all, isn’t questioning the status quo the most patriotic thing you can do in a democracy?

"Whenever I hear voices raised for equity, or the chants of liberation movements, I think of the courage it takes to advance social justice against sometimes overwhelming “establishment” opposition, or to advance institutional diversity in a way that strikes at the heart of traditional academic structures and orthodoxies.

"I’m also reminded of educator and cultural critic Henry Giroux, who said, “Democratic societies are noisy. They’re about traditions that need to be critically reevaluated by each generation.” It’s that continuous process of interrogation at the noisy intersection of our differences that makes institutional transformation possible.

"When our differences collide, we need to interrogate ourselves, each other, and our institutional systems of power and privilege—courageously, noisily, and shoulder to shoulder—until diversity has as much support, as much importance, as much legitimacy, as any other institutional priority; and diversity is woven into everything we do.

"I chose my life’s work because I believed that diversity was central to democratic institutions. I knew that to keep democracy on track toward its highest purpose, we needed to challenge the status quo and dismantle systems of institutional exclusion and bias. And I knew then, as I know even better now, that each new generation must take on that challenge anew, and rethink strategies for generations yet to come."

As the semester comes to an end, I want to thank each and every one of you for the hard work you do every day, challenging the status quo, dismantling systems of exclusion, and keeping democracy on track. As always, I welcome your own reflections and encourage you to e-mail me at barcelo@umn.edu.

All the best,
Rusty

As I write this, the sun is shining, students are enjoying the warm weather on Northrop Mall, and the University has settled into summer: a less frenetic--although no less busy--time for us all.

This summer is offering some new challenges, and I'm sure that the University's budget situation is as much on your mind as it is on mine. Balancing our newly-reduced budget means that life in the future will look a bit different for all of us, and our all-staff meeting on July 15 will be devoted to discussing the specifics of this different future.

This will be an important conversation, one that will help us to ensure that our individual and collective commitment to equity and diversity at the University continues to move forward. With each of you doing the excellent work that you do, I have no doubt that it will.

Our meeting on July 15 will also be an opportunity for us all to formally welcome our new colleagues from the Graduate School Diversity Office, who officially joined OED as of July 1. The GSDO staff is already well-known to many of you, and I know that you'll be as excited as I am for all of us to work together to further the University's equity and diversity goals.

I look forward to seeing you on July 15. In the meantime, enjoy your summer, and don't hesitate to be in touch at barcelo@umn.edu.

Best,
Rusty