Dean’s statement | Penn State College of Health and Human Development

Dean’s statement: Racism is a public health threat that we must address

Racism is a real, pervasive and an ongoing threat to public health in the United States. Blacks and other under-represented racial and ethnic minorities in America are disproportionately exposed to and impacted by racism, the effects of which create and manifest in disparities in health and well-being, disease morbidity, mortality, and longevity (Office of Minority Health, 2022). Centuries of racism in America, particularly against Black individuals, manifests in lower life expectancy, and a disproportionate burden of disease and illness.

At birth, Black men are expected to live seven fewer years than their non-Hispanic, white, male counterparts, and Black women are expected to live five fewer years than non-Hispanic, white women (Vital Statistics Rapid Release, 2021). This translates into nearly 75,000 excess deaths per year among Blacks in the U.S. each year (Benjamins et al, 2021). Much of this differential has been attributed to disparities in chronic disease mortality that stem from inequities in social and environmental determinants of health – not only at the individual level, but also at the community and health and social system levels. To further illustrate, I can point to three geographically adjacent zip codes here in Pennsylvania (19106, 19123, and 19121) where life expectancy at birth is 88 years, 75 years, and 69 years, respectively (Center for Health and Society, 2016). The first zip-code is 21% non-white, the second 45% non-white, and the third 85% non-white (2020 ACS census data). This enormous and disheartening disparity stems from multi-generational, compounded systemic and structural effects. Racism, whether institutionalized (i.e., limited access to resources or disproportionate contact within multiple systems), personally mediated (e.g., bias, prejudice or discrimination perpetrated by others), or internalized (e.g., accepting negative beliefs about oneself), creates differential exposures that have profound impacts on health outcomes, resulting in stark health disparities and inequities (Jones, 2000).

Furthermore, racism’s effects extend beyond traditional health outcomes into other domains of human development and well-being of interest to the college. Increasingly, other entities such as municipalities, centers of health and wellness, professional organizations, etc. have emphasized the significance of acknowledging the health effects of racism. In my own field, for example, it has been consistently documented that autism is recognized at later ages in Black children than non-Hispanic white children (Constantino et al., 2020) because of racialized differences in access to information and services, service provider interactions, and clinical research (Colic et al., 2021). Later diagnosis reduces the effectiveness of intervention programs, so this pattern translates to poorer developmental outcomes, education, and other outcomes for Black children with autism.

Dismantling racism and effectively addressing its roots and effects on health and well-being is fundamental to achieving the College of Health and Human Development’s mission. As community-engaged teachers, researchers, and administrators we must take responsibility and are obligated to address this major public health concern. This obligation includes self-examination of how racism has affected, and continues to affect, our college and university and requires the vigorous pursuit of appropriate action right here and right now. We need to acknowledge that we remain far from where we aspire to be with respect to the diversity of our communities. As one example, available data indicate that in 2021 only 4.5% of the college’s tenure track faculty identified as Black - while ten-years ago, in 2012, 5.2% of our tenure track faculty identified as Black. We have barely moved this proportion – and the small amount of movement has been in the wrong direction. Further, our action needs to extend beyond efforts to diversify our community and build a culture of inclusivity and belonging (which are still, of course, very important). We need to teach practices that actively identify and oppose racism within the professions that we prepare our students to enter and also actively engaging in scholarship around how racism and antiracism affect the health and well-being outcomes that align with the unique and relevant multi-disciplinary expertise of our college.

In addition, we need to adopt antiracist practices within the college itself. The college has had a long tradition of engagement throughout the organization around diversity, equity and inclusion - embodied by the DEI committees based in all our academic, and now central, units. This tradition has informed much of what we have done to date and what will do moving forward. However, focusing more intentionally on antiracist action in the work of these committees and elsewhere throughout the organization, challenging though it may be, will be important to tangible progress in the future.

Action Plan

College of Health and Human Development – 2021-2025 Strategic Plan

The college is in the second year of a five-year Strategic Plan comprised of four goals, 21 objectives, and 65 action items. Eighteen of the plan’s 65 action items are relevant to this statement. On November 14, 2022 we will release a Digest Special Edition reporting on Strategic Plan Progress and that I’ll also summarize at that day’s all-college meeting. However, below are a few highlights of progress made on some of the relevant action items.

Entered HHD into Penn State’s Millennium Scholar’s Program (MSP) providing fully funded, and programmatically-supported, scholarships to students committed to increasing diversity in the college’s STEM-related fields (currently HHD is home to four MSP students).
Created a college-level postdoctoral fellow program to attract and retain postdocs committed to increasing diversity in any of the college’s disciplines.
Created a college program to provide tuition, when funds are available from another source for student stipend, for graduate students committed to increasing diversity in any of the college’s disciplines.
Office of Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Diversity Equity and Inclusion established with Dr. Nicole Webster joining HHD as Associate Dean.

Going Further

Although our strategic plan includes a number of important action steps, we must do more. Below, I outline additional actions I am committing to now. Even with these added steps, moving forward we need to continuously re-assess. This “going further” list must continue to grow and evolve.

Integrate anti-racism into the curricular plan for the new undergraduate public health major.

The college is moving forward with the launch of an undergraduate public health major (strategic plan Action Item 1.1.3). Building on strategic plan Action Item 1.1.4., which refers to integrating principals of antiracism into undergraduate and graduate education, I am committing to assuring that our public health major comprehensively addresses racism as a public health challenge, equipping our graduates to become future leaders in this crucial priority area. This will be accomplished through a three-fold approach: 1) incorporating instruction in action-oriented concept of antiracism where people and institutions actively dismantle systemic discrimination and racism into a required course taught at the college level; 2) support courses offered by the academic units that are part of the academic plan for the major to incorporate antiracism instruction into course curricula; and 3) requiring all internships to incorporate or scaffold in a community-based participation component that seeks to decolonize longstanding power dynamics between researchers or service providers and community members.

Launch a college-wide strategic hiring and retention initiative in health equity.

Health equity is the next priority area for strategic hiring in HHD. Two HHD academic departments competed earlier this year for SSRI co-funding to support tenure line positions in health and social disparities. Both proposals were accepted and the resultant co-funding commitments were critical to having new positions approved during the current hiring freeze. Searches are now underway for an Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Administration (focusing on health disparities early in the life course) and an Associate Professor of Nutritional Sciences (focusing on nutrition equity in families, school age children, adolescents and/or emerging adults). My goal is to be able to launch one search a year in the following three academic years (AY23-24 through AY25-26) in order to bring additional tenure track faculty with expertise in health equity research, at least two explicitly focused on the influence of racism on health and well-being, into the college.

Expand access to well-organized information through a revamped College DEI Website.

Numerous resources exist within our units, the college and University to help promote diversity, equity, inclusivity and belonging. While adding to these resources, we also need to do a better job curating and organizing for our student, staff, and faculty communities. The re-vamped college DEI website, will provide the HHD community with such a resource. The College DEI website will also provide quick access to current information on gender and racial-ethnic diversity of our student, staff, and faculty communities, along with annually updated information on change in the diversity of our community from year to year. For now, this will remind us starkly of failures of the past and the challenges we still face.

Advocate for an improved understanding of and processes around the ethics of inclusion in human subjects research at Penn State.

As a college with a substantive human subjects research footprint at the University, we have an obligation to address concerns specific to minoritized groups, to promote promote greater ethical inclusion and retention of under-represented populations in research and also support processes for the review of research involving under-represented groups that incorporates their perspectives and is informed by appropriate expertise. This year, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, Kathy Drager and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Nicole Webster will convene an interest group of college faculty, staff, and students around this topic and will engage the group with individuals from the Office of Research Protections, the Rock Ethics Institute, the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences Community Engaged Research Team, and other relevant groups around the University to review current practice and develop an agenda moving forward.

In closing, I want to acknowledge others who contributed to this statement. Alex Koehl, an undergraduate research assistant, gathered information from published statements on racism as a public health problem across U.S. organizations. Her work ensured that this statement considered how other research universities and institutions view this public health issue. This statement evolved through multiple iterations informed by discussions between myself and several faculty colleagues (Dr. Lori Francis, Dr. Jochebed G. Gayles, Dr. Alyssa Gamaldo, and Dr. Gary King) over the last year. This exchange between administrator, faculty, and student is another example of a productive step along the way. However, this and other collaborations across our college community must continue in order to effectively respond to this critical public health issue.