“Opening Remarks Commemorating the 7th Anniversary of the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice” By Jonathan Lightfoot

Aloha! My name is Dr. Jonathan Lightfoot, and I am the Founding Director of the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice. I begin by giving respect to and acknowledging the 13 Algonquin tribes of Long Island whose land we occupy. Today we celebrate our 7th anniversary of service to Hofstra University and the larger Hofstra community. Numerologically, the number 7 represents knowledge, intellectual curiosity, and a search for the truth. It is an opportunity to reflect on the impact we have had on Hofstra. Attorney Gloria Browne Marshall gave us our initial charge when we launched on March 8, 2017. She encouraged us to consider our shared history as part of a blueprint to follow as we looked forward with hope for fulfilling our mission in the future.

Thanks to our current associate director, Dr. Veronica Lippencott, our current six (6) student fellows, President Susan Poser, Provost Charlie Riordan, Vice Provost Comila Shahani-Denning, past associate directors, Benita Sampedro and Santiago Slobodsky, and all who have contributed to the success of the Center over the past 7 years, which includes both present and past Advisory Board members, colloquia presenters, faculty summer research grant recipients, students fellows and many others who have volunteered their time and talent.

The Center was borne of the 2016 AAUP faculty contract negotiations out of concern about Hofstra’s poor record of recruiting and retaining BIPOC faculty and administrators. Our appeal to the President and Provost was to support our vision of creating a Center that addressed that concern by demonstrating to prospective and current faculty that we valued their scholarship, research, teaching, and service, particularly when rendered at the intersections of issues of race and racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice for historically marginalized and oppressed peoples. We were approved and received our charter at the same time the AAUP successfully concluded contract negotiations on August 31, 2016. We spent the fall semester of 2016 preparing to officially launch the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice during the spring of 2017. You are welcome to visit us in our physical space located in 203 Roosevelt Hall or visit us virtually at our website: raceculturesocialjustice.hofstra.edu to learn more about our mission.

I am proud to share with you a rundown of some our greatest hits:

1. We host a Monthly Colloquia Series
2. We offer competitive Faculty Sumer Research Grants
3. We sponsor an Annual African Scholars Distinguished Lecture
4. Our podcast, Critical Conversations: For the Culture is up and running
5. We maintain an active blog
6. We serve on various employment search committees across campus
7. We take for credit for Hofstra hiring its first CDIO, who is now our VP/ DEI
8. We take credit for reviving the Africana Studies program
9. We’ve hosted research scholars from Africa, Europe, Canada, & So. Amer.
10. We support both undergrad/grad student fellows to assist in research projects
11. We have been avid supporters of many other organizations at Hofstra and the larger community as event co-sponsors, keynote speakers, and panelists
12. We have a growing list of speaker spotlight interviews on WRHU radio

And yet there is much more work to be done! Dr. Kumashiro encourages us to “name the moment.“ A 2024 election year moment characterized by senseless partisan division with one political party intent sending someone back to the white house who was impeached twice, has been charged with 91 criminal felony counts across 4 indictments; someone who was found civilly liable for more than half a billion dollars for real estate fraud, defamation, and rape sexual assault; and someone who seems more like a wizard of oz type malignant narcissist intent on amplifying his voice behind a big green curtain of fear and deceit with no shame. It is also a time when K-12 school boards are banning books on Black History and Critical Race theory; corporations and academic institutions are dismantling their DEI and Affirmative Action programs; educators are walking on eggshells afraid to say the word ‘gay’, and medical care professionals are caught in the middle of a monumental abuse of women’s rights to their bodies and reproductive health. Democracy is being threatened and authoritarianism led by strongman dictatorships are on the rise all over the world, and so much more. I take my hat off to Hofstra for staying committed to the principals of DEI, knowing that our strength lies in our ability to value and appreciate diverse perspectives, cultures, and people.

Finally, allow me to provide a bit of context on how we chose Dr. Kumashiro to keynote this occasion. Our paths have crossed many times over the last few decades. He was faculty at UIC Chicago where at completed my doctorate prior to his arrival there. We have presented at a few of the same professional educational conferences, and I have participated in webinars and workshops that he has hosted over the years. However, it was last fall when I attended the 13th International Conference on Education and Justice he hosted in Honolulu, Hawaii when we really connected. It was there that he shared with me that Hofstra was interested in him serving as Dean of the School of Education. Surprised, I was eager to share my thoughts on how Hofstra stood to benefit from his leadership as a champion of education for social justice. A month later he came to campus to be interviewed and a month after that he became our new interim dean. I am privileged to have already heard the presentation he will deliver this afternoon and believe you will appreciate his keen insight as much as I do. So, as we commemorate our 7th anniversary, we also welcome Dr. Kumashiro to Hofstra and the School of Education. Thank you for accepting our invitation to punctuate the moment!

Delivered on March 13, 2024

Dr. Jonathan Lightfoot is a Professor in the Teaching, Learning & Technology Department at Hofstra University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a master’s degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Cornell University. His research agenda focuses on anti-racist/ anti-oppression schooling, education and leadership for social justice, civil rights, school desegregation and critical review of legal and public policy. He is the Founding Director of Hofstra’s Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice. In that role, he has led research and programming to promote engagement among local, national, and global communities that center “race” and racism at the intersections of diverse cultural and social justice issues.