Recommitment to College/University Diversity Programs and Minority Faculty Hiring Resolution

 

News Release:

October 31, 2023

CONTACT:
Samantha Higgins, AEJMC Communications Director, 803-798-0271

Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit scholarly organization with more than 2,000 members in about 40 countries who teach and research journalism, public relations, advertising, digital media, film, and media literacy. Founded in 1912, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of communication educators and administrators at the college level. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the broadest possible range of communication research, to promote the implementation of a multicultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice, a better-informed public, and wider human understanding. For more information about AEJMC, please visit www.AEJMC.org.

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Resolution Four: 

Whereas, since its creation of the Ad-Hoc Coordinating Committee on Minority Education in 1968, AEJMC has had recruiting a diverse faculty and student body in media education as one of its priorities; and

Whereas, in 1989 the AEJMC membership passed a resolution calling on the association and on the schools and departments of journalism and mass communications to make every effort to achieve 50 percent minority and/or female faculty and administrators by the year 2000; and

Whereas, in 2023, such parity in faculty and administrators in mass communication units has remained unfulfilled; and

Whereas, multiple state legislatures in 2023 either considered or successfully passed bills banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at higher education institutions; and

Whereas, in May 2023, a bill signed into law in the state of Florida restricts how race and gender can be taught in Florida’s public higher education institutions and bans them from using state or federal funding for diversity programs; and

Whereas, a new Texas law mandates that starting in January 2024, Texas campuses must eliminate DEI offices, mandatory DEI statements, and training; and

Whereas, multiple colleges and universities eliminated their diversity, equity, and inclusion divisions or units; and

Whereas, in 2023, for the second time in two years, hiring decisions involving faculty from racial minority groups were influenced by outside forces resistant to the faculty members’ points of view on diversity; and

Whereas, critics of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs argue such initiatives stand for discrimination, exclusion, and indoctrination;

Now, therefore, be it resolved that AEJMC officially go on record as supporting college and university offices, programs, and initiatives focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion; and

Be it further resolved that AEJMC through its Professional Freedom & Responsibility mission continue to challenge journalism and mass communication units to remain steadfast in their efforts to recruit and retain faculty from groups minoritized along the lines of gender identity, race, color, religion, age, ethnicity/national origin, disability/differently abled, sexuality or sexual orientation, marital status, family/parental status; and

Finally, be it resolved that AEJMC leaders work to create spaces for training and development for association members that offer support for their research and teaching on topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 

<AEJMC 2023 Resolutions

Learn From History Resolution

 

News Release:

August 30, 2023

CONTACT:
Samantha Higgins, AEJMC Communications Director, 803-798-0271

Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit scholarly organization with more than 2,000 members in about 40 countries who teach and research journalism, public relations, advertising, digital media, film, and media literacy. Founded in 1912, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of communication educators and administrators at the college level. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the broadest possible range of communication research, to promote the implementation of a multicultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice, a better-informed public, and wider human understanding. For more information about AEJMC, please visit www.AEJMC.org.

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Resolution Three: 

Whereas, history plays a key role in helping students of all ages avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, succeed in diversity workplaces and create a better society; and

Whereas, a multicultural journalism history, in particular, is a requirement for journalism and mass communication programs to remain in compliance with the Curriculum standards for the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications; and

Whereas, as educators, the members of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) believe wholeheartedly that it is essential to provide students with a fact-based history education while teaching them to reject racism and respect the equal value of every person; and

Whereas, it is a fact that racism played a significant role in our past, and sadly continues to be widespread and harmful to us all; and

Whereas, the members of AEJMC in 2022 passed a resolution opposing education gag orders or legislation restricting topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion; and

Whereas, the members of AEJMC in 2022 also passed a resolution supporting educators responding to any legislation that bans or limits discussions of so-called “divisive concepts” and topics such as Critical Race Theory in the classroom;  and

Whereas, with organizations such as the American Historical Association, The National Association for Media Literacy Education, and the Organization of American Historians among its members, the Learn from History coalition seeks to combat deliberate misinformation about the current state of history education and the ways that historians write about and teach the centrality of racism in the evolution of American institutions; and

Whereas, removing parts of a society’s history amounts to censorship; and

Whereas, the AEJMC has been a longstanding advocate for The First Amendment and free expression; and

Now, therefore, be it resolved that AEJMC as an organization joins the nearly 30 organizations that are part of the Learn from History Coalition, which exists solely to facilitate broad-based effective communication about the vital importance of students learning thorough, accurate and fact-based history while demonstrating the harm of restricting what is taught in the classroom;

Be it further resolved that working through its Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility and units such as the History Division and Commission on the Status of Minorities, AEJMC designates a “Learn From History liaison” to participate in Learn from History meetings and serve as a point of contact for education initiatives that warrant future action by AEJMC and its members.

 

<AEJMC 2023 Resolutions

Inclusive History Resolution

 

News Release:

August 30, 2023

CONTACT:
Samantha Higgins, AEJMC Communications Director, 803-798-0271

Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit scholarly organization with more than 2,000 members in about 40 countries who teach and research journalism, public relations, advertising, digital media, film, and media literacy. Founded in 1912, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of communication educators and administrators at the college level. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the broadest possible range of communication research, to promote the implementation of a multicultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice, a better-informed public, and wider human understanding. For more information about AEJMC, please visit www.AEJMC.org.

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Resolution Two: 

Whereas, the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) in May 2023 issued a ruling banning educators from providing classroom instruction to students in grades 4-12 on sexual orientation or gender identity unless such instruction is expressly required by state academic standards; and

Whereas, such a ruling flattens the story of America’s long Civil Rights Movement that includes examining cultures, religions and societies that have embraced traditions of gender fluidity and homosexuality as meaningful categories of social identity and organization; and

Whereas, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an independent, nonprofit think tank, at least nine other states have passed laws censoring discussion of LGBTQ people or issues in school; and

Whereas, removing parts of a society’s history amounts to censorship; and

Whereas, the AEJMC has been a longstanding advocate for The First Amendment and free expression; and

Whereas, for more than twenty years, much of the AEJMC’s advocacy for sexual minorities has been led through the work of its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Queer (LGBTQ+) Interest Group along with organizations such as NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists; and

Whereas, diversity is one of the five core areas of the Professional Freedom & Responsibility (PF&R) mission of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC); and

Whereas, the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) has established “Diversity and Inclusiveness” as one of the eight standards by which all 119 accredited units have programs that empower those traditionally disenfranchised in the areas that include sexual orientation; and

Now, therefore, be it resolved that AEJMC joins the coalition of at least 49 organizations lead by the American History Association that call for the Florida Department of Education to reconsider its vague and destructive policy of censorship;

Be it further resolved that AEJMC supports in any way possible its members and journalism and mass communication units in any state where efforts are being made to censor discussions of LGBTQ people or issues in school; and

Be it further resolved that AEJMC encourages the teaching of accurate and inclusive histories of the U.S. and the world not only in the state of Florida at the K-12 schools, but in the entirety of the U.S. and at colleges and universities around the world.

 

<AEJMC 2023 Resolutions

The Dylan Lyons Resolution

 

News Release:

August 30, 2023

CONTACT:
Samantha Higgins, AEJMC Communications Director, 803-798-0271

Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit scholarly organization with more than 2,000 members in about 40 countries who teach and research journalism, public relations, advertising, digital media, film, and media literacy. Founded in 1912, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of communication educators and administrators at the college level. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the broadest possible range of communication research, to promote the implementation of a multicultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice, a better-informed public, and wider human understanding. For more information about AEJMC, please visit www.AEJMC.org.

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Resolution One: 

Whereas, Dylan Lyons and Jesse Walden were both shot while reporting on a homicide in Central Florida on February 22, 2023; and

Whereas, Lyons, who had just joined Spectrum News 13 in July 2022, died from injuries sustained when the suspect in the case returned to the crime scene in Pine Hills community, just outside of Orlando, and fired fatal shots at the reporting team; and

Whereas, Lyons was a proud graduate of the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at University of Central Florida where he anchored the UCF Knightly News, a student-run news program; and

Whereas, part of the Professional Freedom & Responsibility mission of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is to promote the practice of the First Amendment by reporters like Lyons while preparing students for the dangers of a profession made even worse by a recent spike in mass shootings; and

Whereas, the Committee to Protect Journalists noted that Lyons’ death came nearly six months after another reporter, Jeff German, an investigative reporter at Las Vegas Review Journal, was stabbed to death on September 2, 2022; and

Whereas, Lyons’ death brings to 14 the number of the journalists killed while working in the U.S. since 1992, the year Committee to Protect Journalists began keeping records;

Now, therefore, be it resolved that AEJMC joins the faculty at the Nicholson School in celebrating the short life and award-winning journalism of Dylan Lyons while keeping in mind AEJMC members and colleagues whose lives were touched or changed by incidents of violence such as a mass shooting; and

Be it further resolved that AEJMC divisions and interest groups sponsor research and teaching panels and programming that educate attendees about how to facilitate learning in various courses on covering mass shootings and their aftermath including lessons that help prepare students to handle and confront vicarious trauma; and

Finally, as evidence of fulfillment of public service, one of the five core areas of AEJMC’s professional freedom and responsibility, be it resolved that copies of this resolution be presented to the family of Dylan Lyons and the faculty, staff and students of the Nicholson School of Communication and Media in Orlando, Florida.

 

<AEJMC 2023 Resolutions