Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Center

TRHT focuses on the ultimate goal of jettisoning a belief in the false hierarchy of human value. This TRHT framework has been created by hundreds of leaders, scholars, and organizations to guide our work. According to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, “The TRHT Framework consists of five areas, and the first two: Narrative Change and Racial Healing and Relationship Building, are foundational pillars for all TRHT work. And, the remaining three areas are Separation, the Law and Economy.” (W.K. Kellogg Foundation)

“The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) is partnering with higher education institutions to develop Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers to ‘prepare the next generation of strategic leaders and thinkers to break down racial hierarchies and dismantle the belief in the hierarchy of human value.’” – AAC&U Website

Established in partnership with AAC&U and hosted by colleges and universities across the country, TRHT Campus Centers pursue the shared goal of preparing the next generation of leaders and thinkers to break down racialized practices and to dismantle the belief in a hierarchy of human value. These self-sustaining, community-integrated campus centers play a vital role in the national TRHT effort to address historical and contemporary effects of racism and to promote transformational and sustainable change. Every institution that applied to be TRHT Campus Center went through a competitive process to be selected to host a TRHT Campus Center. 

The launch of new TRHT Campus Centers at the institutions listed below is supported by funding from Lumina Foundation, the Meyer Foundation, Trellis Foundation, and Wiley Education Services, a division of Wiley:

• Alamo Colleges District (TX)
• California State University, Long Beach (CA)
• Holy Names University (CA)
• Hope College (MI)
• Loyola Marymount University (CA)
• Marymount University (VA)
• Middlesex Community College (MA)
• Montgomery College (MD)
• Northern Virginia Community College (VA)
• Northern Illinois University (IL)
• Prince George’s Community College (MD)
• Queensborough Community College (NY)
• University of Hawai’i at Hilo (HI)

Supported by funding from ETS, two institutions in New Jersey will launch new TRHT Campus Centers:

• Mercer County Community College (NJ)
• Rutgers University–Camden (NJ)

Three additional institutions have recently launched self-funded TRHT Campus Centers:

• Bethel College (KS)
• Suffolk University (MA)
• SUNY Plattsburgh (NY) 

As the centerpiece of the TRHT Framework, Rx Racial Healing™ Circles, are meant to ground the various elements of the TRHT methodology in a compassionate and expansive forum for sharing personal truth to help begin the process of transforming hearts and minds. The Rx Racial Healing™ Circle methodology stresses active listening, being open to the perspectives and experiences of others, and is based on “building a national organizational network and activating local action to promote racial healing and racial equity.” (Christopher, 2018). 

SUNY Plattsburgh TRHT have all been trained as circle modelers. Since being announced as a new TRHT Campus Center in October, SUNY Plattsburgh has convened circles every Tuesday and Thursday since the beginning of November and this will continue in the spring semester.

Our campus and external community have wrestled with issues related to various forms of racial tension. Our TRHT Campus Center provides opportunities for campus and external community members to free ourselves from the prison or cross-racial tension by widening our circles of compassion through dialogue. Rx Racial Healing™ Circles intergroup dialogue can be one of the greatest assets for our community members to further understanding across differences and to share, explore and reflect on each other’s truths.

The TRHT Center will engage in racial healing circles with students, staff, faculty, and community members to normalize difficult conversations and grow in our ability to recognize issues that inhibit our connectedness as a community. The TRHT Center will also focus on increasing the success of minoritized students by identifying barriers and solutions to achieve racially equitable outcomes for student retention, graduation and post-college success.

The TRHT Campus Center offers the opportunity for our community members to come together in dialogue. Since November 2021 we have hosted weekly cross-racial conversations on campus. In about 60 minutes, participants are able to walk away from the circle learning about other community members on a deeper level.

The TRHT Campus Center is part of the Center of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, this serves as our main center, our flagship. Part of our action plan was also to create “de-centered centers” which are strategically placed around campus to be available to host Rx Racial Healing™ Circles for students, staff and faculty to discuss racial tensions, belonging and most importantly, to build relationships across the SUNY Plattsburgh campus. The campus center consistently offers dialogue circles to change the culture on campus. The pandemic and political climate has created a culture more silent. Moving forward, we hope to shift campus culture through dialogue.