Stockton University students must now take two antiracism courses to graduate, costing up to $6700
Stockton University’s new “Race/Racism Education Across the Curriculum” requirement means all incoming students must take two classes on race and racism to graduate, potentially costing near $6700.
Students at Stockton University will now be required to take not one, but two courses on “race and racism” in order to graduate.
According to a Stockton University press release, the measure “Race/Racism Education Across the Curriculum,” was approved by the Stockton University Board of Trustees on May 5 and will take effect during the Fall 2021 semester.
However, the new requirement could create a new financial burden for students who chose to attend the university.
The three courses that the university press release gave as examples of eligible courses under the requirement - Race and Politics, Race, Class, Gender and Criminal Justice, Race, Poverty and Education - all consist of four credit hours.
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Stockton University’s per-credit-hour cost for the Fall 2020-Spring 2021 school year is $551.08 for an in-state resident, and $837.01 for an out-of-state resident. At that rate, the new requirement would cost in-state students $4408.64 and out-of-state students $6696.08.
However, Stockton University Media Relations director Diane D’Amico told Campus Reform that in some cases, current course requirements can be eligible to meet “one of the two required race and racism education courses.”
“For example, the existing ‘Race, Class, Gender and Criminal Justice,’ course could meet a requirement for criminal justice majors and the new racism education requirement,” D’Amico said.
[RELATED: Massachusetts state gov’t funnels tens of thousands into systemic racism seminar]
Donnetrice Allison, Professor and Coordinator of Africana Studies, who originally proposed the requirement, told Campus Reform that the courses will cover the ways that “racism has been imbedded in nearly every aspect of American Culture.”
“The courses will vary, but cover many of the ways that racism has been imbedded in nearly every aspect of American Culture, and every field from criminal justice to education to entertainment, sports and many others,” Allison said. “Discussions of racism are not and should not be exclusive to the Africana Studies Program. Those discussions should be in psychology, political science, biology, environmental science, theater and everything in between, because racism is in all of those fields historically.”
When Dr. Allison initially submitted her proposal for the requirement last year, she said her goal was to make students aware of the systemic racism “which brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets in 2020,” according to the university press release.
The university has supported her throughout the process. In July 2020, the trustees issued a statement affirming their “strong commitment to promoting antiracism” and plans to “revise the curriculum and to require coursework on the issue.”
“This is something everyone must understand if we are to eradicate racism and promote equity and diversity,” Allison said, according to the university. “You have to understand the history to support change.”
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @katesrichardson
