Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

NYCCT’s Stand Against Racism

The cruel death of Mr. George Floyd in Minnesota has redoubled the sorrow that New York State feels in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic. A man asphyxiated by a police officer in full view of three other officers brought home—yet again—the national disgrace of lethal racism in the United States. As trustees of New York State’s community colleges, we stand with all the peaceful Americans who protest against racism, whether individual or entrenched within our social, economic, and educational systems. We urge all New Yorkers to stand up and demand equal justice and respect for all. The community colleges of New York State work to cure the twin evils of racism and inequality by providing accessible education to all and by upholding the banner of equality in our values and in our policies.

As trustees, we are dedicated to ensuring that the students in our colleges have opportunities to develop a richer understanding of the scope of humanity and to advocate for our students’ success. We recognize our responsibility to be active promoters of the justice that our students and our society need and demand. In doing so, trustees work on behalf of our students to remove the many academic and non-academic obstacles they face in obtaining an education, including equity and inclusion.

Our mission at NYCCT is to train and support the more than 300 SUNY trustees in their critical governance role for our 30 community colleges. We campaign on behalf of our colleges to provide open access to a quality education, within a reachable geographic distance, for a highly diverse population of students who have a very distinct array of goals. To do so, we provide a unifying voice for our SUNY community college trustees across the state and foster high standards of trustee professionalism.

To that end, NYCCT agrees to increase our organization’s focus on diversity, inclusion and equity (DEI) in all our trustee training, programming and other activities. To begin, we will add training sessions this year on DEI progress/challenges on our campuses and share ways that trustees can actively and effectively support DEI efforts. We will also host roundtable discussions to hear and learn firsthand from trustees, students and others about the DEI challenges and experiences they face. Moving ahead, we will use that information to develop actions for the future. We look forward to collaborating with other groups to strengthen our efforts to oppose racism in support of our students and staff.

click here to view the NYCCT Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Educational Modules


Adirondack Community College

Equity Action Agenda

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee Tasks


Other Resources

Aboriginal Education and Anti-Racist Education: Building Alliances Across Cultural and Racial Identity

Antiracism Education In and Out of Schools





This website is sponsored by the NYCCT Educational Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)3 charitable organization that supports the educational work of New York Community College Trustees.  NYCCT is open to all community colleges in New York State.  The association promotes trustee professionalism and leadership, and the community college model.  

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