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  3. Minority Educator Recruitment, Retention and Equity Center

Minority Educator Recruitment, Retention and Equity Center

Drs. Faith Wilkerson and LaRon Scott at the 2020 Teachers of Color Conference on the Monroe Park Campus of VCU. [View Image]

The Minority Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Equity Center (MERREC) is committed to leveraging resources and supports to VCU School of Education minoritized preservice and inservice educators of color. Our center focuses on four overarching goals:

  • Provide ongoing culturally-centered mentoring and induction support to improve the success of minoritized educators
  • Offer culturally-centered co-curricular experiences tailored to the academic and social interest and needs of minoritized educators
  • Administer financial program to support minoritized educators
  • Conduct research to improve the recruitment, supports, and retention of preservice and inservice educators of color

Mission Statement in Support of Equity for Educators of Color

The core mission and vision of MERREC is to improve society’s respect for minoritized educators. We are particularly interested in recruiting, supporting, and retaining minoritized educators of color. We acknowledge that inequity exists for educators of color in higher education, K-12 institutions, and communities in part due to systemic and structural racism that has deep roots in our nation’s education system. These inequities are exacerbated by the intersectionality of sociocultural identity markers, working conditions, societal conditions, and other factors that create additional hurdles and disparities that influence educational access and achievement for educators of color. At the MERREC, we believe equity is justice for all minoritized educators, especially our educators of color. We believe that correcting these deep-rooted injustices will improve the recruitment and retention pipeline for educators of color. We are committed through our advocacy and comprehensive supports to enrich the experiences of minoritized educators, particularly educators of color.

Upcoming Events

Equity: The Series

Poster for social for MERREC's Equity the Series. [View Image]A virtual co-curricular series, our 2020-21 sessions will focus on Equity for Educators of Color and is designed to address problems in the teacher education pipeline specific to School of Education students and those working in our urban and high-needs communities. Please review the information contained in the registration form below, and consider having your classes participate in some or all of these sessions. Each one is free and open to all SOE students, faculty and staff. As you will see, many of our guest speakers are our very own SOE faculty, and we are so grateful they have agreed to assist us with this huge initiative. Registration is now open.

MERREC Newsletters

The fifth issue of the MERREC Newsletter. [View Image]

March 2021

 

 

The fourth issue of the MERREC newsletter. [View Image]

February 2021

 

 

The third issue of the MERREC Newsletter. [View Image]

December 2020

 

 

The second issue of the MERREC newsletter. [View Image]

November 2020

 

Equity: The Podcast Read More arrow [View Image]
Student Engagement Read More arrow [View Image]
Financial Assistance Read More arrow [View Image]
Mentor Program Read More arrow [View Image]
Diversity & Equity Resources Read More arrow [View Image]
Research Read More arrow [View Image]

Meet Our Staff

LaRon Scott, Ph.D. [View Image]
Faith Wilkerson, Ed.D. [View Image]
Cassandra Willis, Ph.D. [View Image]
Ph.D. SPED [View Image]
Headshot of Imani Evans [View Image]
Christine Powell Alternate Headshot [View Image]
Amber Brown Ruiz, graduate assistant (Update) [View Image]
Headshot of Rachel Walker. [View Image]

Get in Touch with MERREC

Minority Educator Recruitment, Retention and Equity Center (MERREC)
1015 W. Main St., Room 4064B
Richmond, Virginia 23284-2011
Phone: (804) 828-8768
Email: SOEMEC@vcu.edu
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vcumerrec

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