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The University of Maryland Writing Center prioritizes ‘antiracism’ in in its new hires as well as in its self-description
The University of Maryland Baltimore’s Writing Center posted a job application to its website seeking a “writing consultant” for the university’s campus writing center.
The job lists as one of its “previous anti-racist coursework or activism” as one of its “preferred qualifications.”
Applicants must be enrolled in of the University of Maryland Baltimore’s seven schools or work as a post-doc, faculty, or staff member at the university. Consultants work an average of 6-8 hours per week and “perform a variety of educational assistance, primarily through one-on-one peer consultation,” including help with course assignments, curriculum vitae, cover letters, grants and other writing projects.
The application also includes several brief essay questions, one entitled “Justice & Equity.”
“As you can see in our mission statement, we express commitment to interrogating racism and white supremacy and injustice broadly,” the application reads. “ How would you want your work as a consultant to contribute to and expand your personal, scholarly, and professional work related to justice and equity?”
Applicants are asked to respond in 250-400 words.
In the second paragraph of the “About Us” page of the University of Maryland Baltimore Writing Center, “antiracism” is brought up as a foundational commitment.
“We know that writing is way more than words on the page or the arrangement of grammatical units,” the “About Us” description reads. “We approach our work with writers with an anti-racist lens.”
“We acknowledge the cultural and linguistic complexity and diversity of professional and academic work today,” it continued. “In response, we see ourselves as collaborators across borders shaped by language, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, mobility, culture, citizenship and nationality, dis/ability, socio-economic status, class, and indigeneity.”
MORE: University writing center combats ‘racist’ language structures
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