The ASOR DEI Task Force delivered its report to the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees at the May 15-16 meetings. The primary work of the Task Force between September 2020 and May 2021 was to focus on recommendations for improving ASOR diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), particularly as pertain to North American scholars who are Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color (BIPOC), identify ways these objectives could be integrated across the organization, and establish a permanent body that could oversee this and other DEI work. Click here to see the original charge.

After much research and consultation over the last academic year, the Task Force made several recommendations for consideration by ASOR leadership and the ASOR standing committees, including (though not limited to):

Based on the Task Force recommendations, the Board voted to extend the life of the Task Force through November 2021. Furthermore, the Board charged President Sharon Hebert, in consultation with the Task Force and Vice President Charles Jones, to develop a charge for a new standing ASOR DEI committee to be functioning no later than January 2022. This new committee will be a part of the CCC and work alongside other ASOR committees, the ASOR Office, and ASOR governance to implement the Task Force recommendations.

Throughout the next several months the Task Force will help create the permanent, DEI Standing Committee, will collaborate with ASOR leadership and standing committees as they finalize their DEI objectives and the new ASOR strategic plan, and will communicate with ASOR membership about Task Force recommendations and next steps on how to get involved.

The Task Force would like to thank all of the interviewees and organizations who contributed to these findings and the Early Career Scholars, the Initiative for the Status of Women, ASOR leadership, the ASOR Office, and ASOR members who initiated this work and provided feedback over the last year.