Creating a truth, racial healing, and transformation campus center to ensure cultural competency is urgent and accessible for community college students

Institutions of higher education have the important responsibility of shaping the whole
student, and, thus, are feeling an increased demand to help develop students navigate equity and
diversity matters. Beyond producing students who have endured an academically rigorous
curriculum and preparation for the workforce, more and more institutions of higher education are
placing a greater emphasis on ensuring graduates have had adequate opportunities to develop
some level of mastery in the area of cultural competency, to help them effectively compete in the
global workforce after completion.
As a result of this emphasis, community colleges, many that perhaps are late to the
conversation, are now joining four-year institutions in the effort to provide places, spaces, and
opportunities for students to engage in learning about how to effectively communicate and
engage with individuals who are different from them, especially in terms of their culture, race,
ethnicity, and or sexual orientation.
Therefore, community colleges are now entering the arena with universities by
establishing Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Centers (TRHT Campus
Centers) to help serve this goal. Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Centers are
a based on a model designed by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation that uses a comprehensive
community-based process designed to address present and past societal inequities impacted by
racism through programming, training, and workshops to help further the cultural competency of
students, staff, and faculty. This model has been applied at several colleges and universities
across the country. Community colleges, however, are by definition differently situated than four-year universities in many ways, including how they are funded, where they are located, who
they serve, and how their mission is carried out to impact the local community.
Thus, as more and more community colleges are considering expanding their diversity
and inclusion efforts, it is hoped that this Guide may serve as a resource for college leaders to
utilize as they explore implementing a TRHT Campus Center at their institution.