HONOLULU—
With a focus on paying homage and respect to the land, culture, and people of Hawaii, more than 5,500 higher education practitioners gathered here this week for the annual convening of the National Conference of Race and Ethnicity i(NCORE) in Higher Education.
NCORE has morphed into the go-to place for students, faculty, staff, and activists who are concerned about the state of race relations in society in general, and on college campuses in particular.
The recent campus protests and encampments around the war in Gaza has prompted discussion and is a focus of many of the workshop sessions taking place throughout the week. Scholar-activists have called into question the use of police force, for example, on campuses like Columbia University, Princeton University, UCLA, and the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Melina Abdullah
With the attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the dismantling of affirmative action, the state of race relations in higher education is in peril, said many of this year’s participants.
“We have the collective power to affect meaningful change,” said Dr. Belinda Biscoe, senior associate vice president for outreach at the University of Oklahoma, the organizer of NCORE. “We must confront the challenges ahead, as we seek to build bridges, create dialogue and create lasting change in the landscape of higher education.”
For two decades, Biscoe has led NCORE’s efforts, helping to grow the conference into a safe space for student organizers to strategize alongside faculty, administrators and community activists.
