The Staff Collective for Change (SCC) was started by Carleton employees to provide intentional, ongoing opportunities for Carleton staff to engage in dialogue around anti-racist action and expand their knowledge of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Over the years, the SCC integrated into other Carleton groups and shifted all of its responsibilities to be shared between the College’s Division of Inclusion, Equity, and Community; the Community, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (CEDI) group; and the Carleton Staff Council.

Although the SCC no longer exists, this webpage is kept by the Carleton Staff Council as an archive of the group’s important work and resources. If you have any questions about the SCC or current related work being done at Carleton, please contact the Division of Inclusion, Equity, and Community.

Staff Collective for Change: Conversations to Empower Antiracist Action (formerly known as SARAE) is a group welcoming all members of the Carleton staff community to participate in dialogue sparked by selected media that centers issues of racism.

Find the details for each meeting and past meetings below. ALL Carleton Staff members are welcome to attend these meetings, regardless of experience discussing issues of racism.

Stay Connected

Have you attended any of our dialogues? Please take a couple minutes to fill out our feedback form! We are always looking to improve these discussions and welcome your input. Additionally, join our email list to stay updated on SCC dates and media.

Stay Accountable

At each session, the Collective will institute a Call to Action. This will be a time where attendees will reflect on a specific action they can take to make Carleton or their broader community a more inclusive, equitable, and antiracist space.

The SCC Action Accountability Guide is meant to assist staff in completing action steps through identifying timelines, resources, and challenges associated with the action.

SCC’s Mission

Staff Collective for Change (SCC) provides intentional, ongoing opportunities for Carleton staff to engage in dialogue around anti-racist action and expand their knowledge of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We seek to provide safe, accountable dialogue spaces to discuss pre-selected media while supplying additional resources so that each person can continue their journey of understanding difference and the importance of an inclusive community.

Updated: September 2022

SCC’s Vision

We envision a Carleton where staff are empowered to engage in the ongoing work of creating an anti-racist community by raising awareness of issues of racism on campus and beyond, expand their knowledge of disparities within our communities, and reimagine the policies, practices, and personal habits that uphold racism in our society.

Updated: September 2022

SCC Organizers

  • Erin Arntson, Summer Liberal Arts Institute Programs Coordinator
  • Liz Dwinnell, Associate Director of the Alumni Annual Fund
  • Sally Pierce, Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Arts and to Theater & Dance
  • Abigail Campbell, Associate Director for AAF Messaging and Project Management

Would you like to help organize the Collective? Email one of the organizers to get connected!

Resources for Continued Learning & Un-Learning

The following links were suggested by members of SCC as resources they have found helpful in their learning/unlearning journey. Depending on where folks are in their own journey, some resources may be more helpful than others. Please explore them as you see fit, and feel free to suggest the addition of any resources to SARAE leadership.

Instagram Accounts

Starting Out

Diving In

Articles & Websites

We want to help Carleton staff get what you need out of our dialogues, so we want to know what you’d like to discuss! If you have a theme, topic, or specific piece of media that you think SCC should host a dialogue about, let us know.

Statement of Solidarity

The Forum, representing Carleton’s exempt staff, and Staff At Carleton (SAC), representing regular, non-union, non-exempt staff, acknowledge the pain felt by the Carleton community due to systemic racism, racialized violence, or excessive police force that led to the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, James Scurlock, Tony McDade, Nina Pop, and countless other Black lives taken too soon.

Forum and SAC acknowledge the work and emotional labor of Carleton’s Black students, colleagues, and staff. We especially want to thank our Black students, faculty, and staff for their contribution to the campus community intellectually, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. This particularly includes the work of the Black Student Alliance (BSA), African Caribbean Association (ACA), Women of Color Plus, Men of Color, and Students with Interracial Legacies (SWIRL) for their hard work of sharing resources and actionable steps towards a better and more just world.

Forum and SAC understand that we have a role in the ongoing, antiracist work that needs to be done at Carleton and in our wider community. As we reflect on our collective power, Forum and SAC commit to joining the larger Carleton community to examine how our practices and cultural norms negatively impact Black students, colleagues, and staff. We will follow up on the direction provided by Community, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (CEDI) and will work together to further the goals of CEDI.

We know this is the work we all need to do as individuals to become better informed and take action.

2022–23 SCC Events & Materials

Fall 2022 Dialogue Series

4th Tuesday, October 4, 11 a.m.–noon via Zoom

  • Meeting Outline: After a summertime hiatus, the SCC Fall Kickoff will be an opportunity to reconnect, align on community goals, and welcome new attendees. Instead of discussing a piece of media, we’ll use the hour to set the stage for our next year of conversations. We’ll gather input and ideas from attendees that will help shape this group for the year. Join us to share your feedback and meet others who are invested in developing antiracist practices at Carleton!
  • There will be no required media for this session, however, feel free to revisit our 2021–22 media to generate ideas and feedback for discussion.

8th Thursday, November 3, 11 a.m.–noon via Zoom

Winter 2023 Dialogue Information

February: Cancelled, discuss and reflect upon the Indigenous Elder in Residence events.

The purpose of SCC is to host conversations that empower action, engagement, and activism. As part of this mission, we encourage you to register for and attend the in-person events. But, if you’re not able to attend, two of the sessions “Why and How We Come from the Stars” and “The Grandfather Teachings: Dakota/Lakota and Ojibwe Values” will be recorded. 

We will share the recordings as they become available, as well as discussion questions closer to the session date.

From Marcy Averill’s campus email:

“I write to invite you to participate in one or more of the upcoming 2023 Indigenous Elder in Residence events. We are grateful to be welcoming Ida Downwind, Leech Lake Anishinaabe, for her first of four visits to campus this year. Register by January 23.

In our Indigenous communities, we view Elders as the most significant voices.  They carry authority along with the wisdom gained across their lifetimes of service to all people.  As traditional knowledge keepers, they have many lessons to share and their ability to guide relationship development can bring about collaborations that would otherwise be impossible.  Ms. Downwind’s first visit will be focused on building and strengthening relationships in all directions here at Carleton.

Ms. Downwind is highly regarded among Indigenous Traditional Healers throughout the region. In addition to her Elder and Healer experiences, her more academic credentials include B.S Elementary Education, M.S. Curriculum and Instruction, all but dissertation for Ph.D. Educational Leadership, Trained and Certified in Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy and Complex Trauma (IFOT) and Indigenous Tools for Living, as well as having been a teacher and educational institution leader for early elementary through Tribal College levels.

Spring 2023 Session Information

Thursday, April 27, 10–11 a.m. via Zoom

  • Theme: Spring Cleaning. Focused on current issues of personal interest to staff, sharing of resources and information, and identification of action items.

Wednesday, May 24, 11 a.m.–noon via Zoom

  • Theme: VPIEC Conversation. With the newly hired Vice President for Inclusion, Equity, and Community, Dina Zavala, joining us on campus soon, Staff Collective for Change will be hosting a conversation about how staff envision SCC best interacting and partnering with the new VP.
  • Questions to consider:
    • What is SCC’s role on campus and what has it contributed to Carleton?
    • What have we learned in the past few years that staff feel is important to share with the new VP?
    • What is on staff members’ minds right now, and in what realms do staff want to take action?
  • To read:
  • Before the session, we encourage attendees to attend one of the following:
    • VPIEC meet & greet for faculty & staff on April 27th
    • LTC Lunch: Creating Inclusive Environments in Academic Departments on May 9th

Discussing the Future of the Staff Collective for Change (SCC)

Throughout the year, SCC Organizers have met with Dina and CEDI to discuss how we can partner with CEDI, align our work with the IDE plan, and continue motivating and mobilizing staff at Carleton. Now, we would like to hear from YOU and gather your thoughts on the future of SCC at a meeting on Tuesday, April 30 @ 11 a.m. CT on Zoom.

How you can prepare for the meeting:

  • Review the IDE plan and specifically note where Staff are mentioned
  • Check out the SCC website to see what we’ve done in the past
  • Consider how you already engage in IDE initiatives at Carleton and how you would like to engage in the future

2021–22 SCC Events & Materials

Fall 2021 Dialogue Series

4th Thursday, October 7, 10–11 a.m. via Zoom

  • Meeting Outline: This session, we will be checking in with the group to re-center the aim of SARAE going into this year and hear what people would like to see from this group going forward.
  • There will be no required media for this session, however, feel free to revisit our 2020–21 media to generate ideas and feedback for discussion.
  • Additional resources for this session:

Fall/Winter Theme: Developing Inclusive Practices & Language.

For the remainder of fall and winter terms, we will revisit the unpacking of microaggressions. This is a topic that multiple members felt was worth spending more time on to help us all create the inclusive community Carleton is striving for.

8th Thursday, November 4, 10–11 a.m. via Zoom

Winter 2022 Dialogue Series

Announcing Our New Name

Staff Collective for Change: Conversations to Empower Antiracist Action

Starting in winter 2022, the group formerly known as SARAE will be called the Staff Collective for Change (SCC). After receiving feedback about the group name and simultaneously reflecting on the purpose of our work, we are excited to move forward with a name that reflects a deeper commitment to creating space for our staff community to progress beyond dialogue and take action on-campus and beyond.

3rd Thursday, January 20, 10–11 a.m. via Zoom

Spring 2022 Dialogue Series

Thursday, April 28, 11 a.m.–noon via Zoom

Thursday, May 12, 10–11 a.m. via Zoom

2020–21 SCC Events & Materials

Fall 2020 Dialogue Series

Fall Media Theme: Historical context of racism in the US & at Carleton

5th Tuesday, October 13, 12:25–1:25 p.m. (Common Time)

7th Thursday, October 29, 12:25–1:25 p.m. (Common Time)

9th Thursday, November 12, 12:25–1:25 p.m. (Common Time)

Free access to these materials (paper or ebook) may be available through Carleton’s Gould Library!

Winter 2021 Dialogue Series

Winter Media Theme: Understanding internal biases and perceptions and how they influence interactions with difference

3rd Tuesday, January 19, 12:25–1:25 p.m. (Common Time)

5th Tuesday, February 2, 12:25–1:25 p.m. (Common Time)

7th Tuesday, February 16, 12:25–1:25 p.m. (Common Time)

Free access to these materials (paper or ebook) may be available through Carleton’s Gould Library!

Spring 2021 Dialogue Series (attend one or both)

Due to decreased attendance experienced in the later sessions of fall and winter terms, we will be having only two dialogue meetings for Spring term.

Spring Media Theme: Allyship in times of uncertainty

3rd Thursday, April 15, 12:25–1:25 p.m. (Common Time)

6th Thursday, May 6th, 12:25–1:25 p.m. (Common Time)

Free access to these materials (paper or ebook) may be available through Carleton’s Gould Library!