b'Museum visitors participate in a workshop led by Wee The People, a Boston-based social justice project for kids, parents and educatorsSmith students establishes a significant benchmarkWhat is happening in our country nowincluding the toward which we should strive. activism and conversations about public monumentsThe Smith College Office for Equity and underscores why it is so important to develop and Inclusion, which has provided critical guidance andforeground candid histories of our institutions like this support for our work at the museum, added three one. We should do more of this work at SCMA, espe-staff positions last year to help achieve the collegescially as a place in which histories are represented and commitments to equity and inclusion. At SCMA, shaped.we have deliberately approached DEAI as a responsi- Creating substantive accountability will be vital bility that we all share and that needs to be integral to making these changes. Over the coming months, to each staff members work. But in order to rise to you will see specifics on the museums website and the needs of our moment, we will fortify this jointsocial media about our DEAI goals and the actions action by investing specific staff positions with explicitwe will take to achieve them. This is not just so that DEAI responsibilities. you know about the steps we are taking, but also so The advocacy of students and student organi- that we continually push ourselves to live up toand zations, notably the Black Students Alliance and theto find new ways to realizethe language of diversity, Smith African and Caribbean Students Association,equity, accessibility and inclusion.has led the way for changes at the college, much asAs many have pointed out, this work must members of the public, artists, critics and local com- become integral to our mission going forward and munity organizations have been pivotal in advancingwill evolve as we learn and as the needs of our com-change in the museum field. As we pursue the goalmunities change. To that end, we urge you to share of becoming a more just and equitable museum, weyour questions, comments and ideas as you see these should likewise find more ways to lift up the ideas andchanges take root at SCMA. And hopefully, looking experiences of Smith students and local organizationsback at the fall of 2020 in a few years, we will see that have long been doing the work of social justice. numerous other deep-seated waysnot foreseeable You may have seen the crowd-sourced nowin which our staffing, decision-making, opera-the making of a museumA History of Race, Racism and Resistance at Smithtions, collection, exhibitions and programming have College that was compiled by two Smith alumnae.shifted toward greater equity.16'