Q&A with professor John Jackson

Earlier this month, Provost Vince Price announced the appointment of Communication and Anthropology professor John Jackson as senior adviser to the provost for diversity. Jackson — who, in 2006, became the University’s first-ever Penn Integrates Knowledge professor — will be the first to hold the advisory position.

The Daily Pennsylvanian recently sat down with Jackson to discuss his plans for the implementation of the Action Plan for Faculty Diversity and Excellence, which was released last summer.

The Daily Pennsylvanian: How has your research on racial identity impacted your contribution to implementing the Diversity Action Plan?
John Jackson: Part of what I’ve been trying to do over the course of my career is to figure out some of the most and least productive ways in which, as a society, we conceptualize and codify differences. What are the differences that make a difference to us? How do we find ways to bridge divides that are long standing, that people are very invested in?
At the heart of the Diversity Action Plan is a question about how we take a campus that is clearly invested in being inclusive and make sure that we’re not excluding people unfairly or inadvertently.

DP: What overall progress has the Diversity Action Plan achieved since its release in July? Have there been any concrete changes in effect this year?
JJ: Probably one of the biggest changes is that it has allowed this discussion of diversity and inclusion to be at the very top of the University agenda. Penn has been thinking about diversity issues for a while, but the new initiative has made sure that it is at the top of everyone’s to-do list.
[Through the plan], we’ll see the kinds of programs and policies and initiatives that get instituted. We’ll collectively determine what logics of inclusion, fairness and equity are going to guide us.

DP: Is the Diversity Action Plan open to amendments?
JJ: I think that we are in the “amendments” process now. There’s nothing finalized yet. We are trying to put things in place by the summer. The schools are drafting their own Diversity Action Plans as we speak. There is a larger framework that the Provost and the President put together, but that’s just the start of the conversation.
There will be many ways for students, staff and faculty to respond to and help improve these plans, but it is important to make sure that we have such plans in place for people to read over and react to.

DP: In addition to examining the role of racial minorities at Penn, how will the Diversity Action Plan cater to the needs of the University’s LGBT community?
JJ: In my early conversations with the Provost, I have been struck by how incredibly holistic his notion of diversity has been. Part of my task is to help make sure that everyone, including the LGBT community, feels like they are a part of these massive institutional efforts — that their questions, needs and concerns are being heard and addressed.
We have to recognize that all of the constituencies that make up this institution should benefit from this effort. Our job is to make sure that nobody feels alienated by the discussion, or somehow defined out of our notion of diversity.

DP: Anything you would like to add?
JJ: The biggest thing is that I’m excited to find out how the schools will take up this charge and how their plans might articulate with one another. These school-specific diversity plans are going to help us see things in a close-up and fine-grained way. It is easy to advocate for diversity in the abstract, but we want to figure out what it looks like here at Penn in its concrete forms.

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