Social Work Ph.D. Students Host Anti-Racism Symposium

Conversations cross disciplines, demographics and geographics

The first-of-its-kind anti-racism symposium on Sacred Heart University’s West Campus attracted more than 200 participants from across the country, both virtually and in person. Students from SHU’s first class in the Ph.D. in social work program organized and hosted the event.

“We received more than 50 responses to our call for proposals,” said Quianna Daniels-Smart ‘25, a licensed social worker in Philadelphia and one of the Ph.D. students who helped organize the symposium. “One of our speakers came from Minnesota to take part.”

“There are two things I took away from the response to this event,” said Daniels-Smart. “First, there is obviously a need, and people are hungry to learn about this work. Second, people showed up and stayed, even if they had no prior experience in anti-racism.”

The words of one participant, who is a member of the local community, especially affected Daniels-Smart: “I didn’t know this was an issue. I’ve never witnessed it. But now, I’m prepared if I do see it; I know what to do and say.”

“That comment meant the most to me. She was there to learn and participate,” said Daniels-Smart.

“It’s really an indication of how much this conversation is valued and needed,” said Jennifer Wilson, professor in the doctoral program. “We had participants across disciplines, across universities. I was surprised by how many people came who were not affiliated with Sacred Heart.”

Boston resident LaTasha Sarpy ’25, who is working on her second doctorate observed, “I believe this is the first conference at SHU that is as interdisciplinary as this one.”

Speakers came from varied disciplines

Ijeoma Opara from Yale University presented the keynote address, “An Anti-Racism Approach to Social Work Education: Implications for Faculty, Staff and Administrators.” Other speakers included SHU faculty members from various disciplines and others from Bethel University, Pace University, Drexel University and Southern Connecticut State University. In addition, there were experts from Fairfield Yabantu (an organization that seeks to replace racism and classism with social equity and harmony), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Women Against Mass Incarceration and two counseling services, Bourne Anew and Awakenings.

“Another challenge in putting the conference together was that we are all remote students,” Sarpy said “We came together as a collective of varying identities and practiced what we preach. The contact hypothesis for anti-racism says ‘If we work together cooperatively as individuals with different identities, how much can we get done?’”

Jennifer Melanson, another doctoral student from the Boston area, was reserved about her position on the planning committee at first. “As the only white student on the committee, I was unsure about my ideas. I had to get over that. My colleagues were great about telling me if I was on the right track or if I had missed the mark, and I was open to hearing it. After all, that’s exactly what the conference was about,” she said. “We were trying to get people to embrace the discomfort, and I had to walk the walk myself.”

“We mostly talked about anti-racism and anti-Black-racism,” said Daniels-Smart. “But it’s also about other minoritized groups: anti-Asian hate, sexism, anti-LGBTQ, gender-identity challenges, anti-Semitism … it’s about all the other ‘isms’ as well.”

“Even things I had heard before, I heard differently on that day,” said Melanson. “There’s a difference between reading a journal article about racist themes and language in some of Shakespeare’s work and hearing Keith Hamilton Cobb, with the Untitled Othello Project, talk about why it personally affects him and others, and why it should matter. You can look at charts and statistics about women incarcerated in this country, but when you combine Women Against Mass Incarceration’s Tiheba Bain’s education with her lived experience, it’s so impactful. It became so much more real to me. And when it becomes real to you, you care more about it.”

“Everyone’s voice was amplified that day,” said Wilson. “They were joined in this mission of change. Everyone’s voice was compelling and powerful and important.”

Symposium will return

The anti-racism symposium will return next year. “We want to keep this energy alive,” said Wilson. “There were a lot of fantastic proposals that we couldn’t fit into the day. We’re hoping to put together a series of continuing conversations in anti-racism to keep people engaged. We need to keep focusing on solutions. Keep thinking about how we can create spaces that are inclusive and actively oppose racism and oppression in all its forms.

“We’re capitalizing on this time when people are ready to have this dialog, and if we can provide a venue for people to do it, please let’s do it as often as we can,” Wilson continued.

SHU’s social work doctoral program focuses on anti-racism pedagogy and approaches to social work practice. “I asked, ‘if this is what we are talking about in our classes, how do other people find out about it?’” said Daniels-Smart. “We needed to produce an event, or a series of events, that look at how we’re integrating anti-racism within our social work program, but also what it looks like out in the community.”

“When I learned about the program at Sacred Heart, there was no way I couldn’t apply,” said Sarpy about the curriculum’s anti-racism focus. “If this symposium is any indication of the doctoral program, I know that I’m in the right place.”

Participants included members of the general community, academia, nonprofit organizations, public schools, police departments, healthcare workers, churches, the Connecticut Department of Education and the Sacred Heart community. “The University president [John J. Petillo] was there as a participant. I’ve attended other schools that said they’re student-focused, but I’ve never experienced it at the level they do at SHU,” said Daniels-Smart.

There was no charge to attend the symposium. Livestream recordings can be found on the School of Social Work website.

The Professional and Organizational Development Network (POD) awarded Wilson a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) educational development grant to support the Continuing Conversations workshop series. The monthly brown bag workshop sessions began November 16 and will run through July 12, 2023.

"This workshop series is an opportunity to keep the vision and action of antiracism present in our daily work; and to fuel the momentum we developed at the 2022 symposium to build relationships, work collaboratively and share solutions until we meet again on August 9, 2023," said Wilson.