Creating a Community at CSI
RELAY is an anti-racism resource to foster a more just, diverse, and inclusive campus community in which the dignity and belonging of all are respected.
The RELAY Team (“Respond, Establish Process, Link and Intervene, Assess, Yield Growth”) addresses our campus climate to foster a more just, diverse, and inclusive community in which the dignity and belonging of all are respected. We respond by offering community building circles, restorative justice opportunities, conflict resolution, mediation, and advocacy. Members of RELAY are available to respond to and support anyone on campus who reports an incident of racism or bias, including microaggressions. We are a diverse team of trained faculty and staff who care deeply about social justice in our campus community. We are deeply committed to social justice in our campus community and have come together to collectively make an impact.
We aim to resolve conflict through improved communication and restoration of community as an essential first step to creating a more welcoming environment. As a justice-seeking, antiracism project, RELAY is committed to establishing an institutional commitment to engaged restorative practices to advance, cultivate, and preserve a culture of diversity and belonging because it makes us a stronger, more inclusive college. To achieve this goal, we seek engagement from every member of our campus community.
As we think about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and how students, faculty, staff and all members of our campus community enter into community with one another, we work to honor our stories, be present for each other, and strive for empathic action in every moment. At our core is the idea that we demonstrate the deepest part of our humanity through interacting with each other and demonstrating healing and care. Our restorative approach is rooted in listening, learning, love, compassion, and action.
Recognizing the need for social change and justice, the CSI RELAY team creates a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment by confronting racism head-on. By addressing the individual and institutional micro and macroaggressions, we are eliminating racism, disparities, and inequities among students, faculty, and staff. We are facilitating the change from what often feels like an unwelcoming and hostile (challenging and sometimes hostile) racial climate while demonstrating leadership in our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. We envision all our students, faculty and staff one day saying, “I know I am valued for my entire self and that’s why I came to CSI: a place where racism doesn’t have a home, is not allowed, and is actively challenged.
RELAY received funding from the CUNY Black Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative (BRESI). Team members were selected though an interview process. Their experience and dedication to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging were considered. The team is a diverse group representing various areas of the campus.
In preparation for our work and professional development, the RELAY team received extensive training. Some of the trainings we have participated in include learning about anti-racist organizing and the history of racism from The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB); restorative justice, and circles practices from staff at the Columbia University Center for Justice; and Dr. Sonia Brown, CSI Social Work Professor, Elephant In The Room-Storytelling & Dialogue About Race. Members of the team have also attended the Student Conduct Institute's Restorative Justice in Higher Education Training and University of San Diego Foundational Restorative Justice Training for Higher Education. Guidance was also provided by Indiana University Student Support and Bias Education and Queensborough Community College Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.