The Counseling faculty at Cosumnes River College are saddened and outraged about the recent murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police department, as well as with the prior killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and Stephon Clark. Our communities of color have suffered the loss of many lives due to oppressive and racist acts of violence. We stand in solidarity with our Black and African American students, faculty, and staff, along with the nationwide tsunami of protests by black and brown people and their allies to end the unjust acts of violence against Black Lives.
While our hearts are heavy, we recognize that Black Lives and the wellness of our students matter most during these troubling times. Thus, we remain committed and vigilant in providing culturally competent and holistic personal counseling services as a safe space of healing for our students, especially for our Black and African American students who may be experiencing grief, pain, anger, anguish, anxiety and tremendous difficulty processing the array of emotions triggered by these disturbing acts of violence.
Our commitment to our Black and African American students also extends beyond our confidential counseling sessions. Consistent with CRC’s core values, we, as a department, vow to continue to educate and raise awareness of institutional and systemic racism, as well as issues of equity pertaining to our students of color throughout our campus community.
In order to be the strongest advocates and allies for our Black and African American students and other marginalized communities of color, we acknowledge that being non-racist is not enough. We must continue to reflect upon and identify our implicit biases within and across our faculty, staff, and throughout the institution that may be harming our students. As counseling professionals, we believe in our duty to proactively be and remain anti-racist, in order to combat systemic racism and achieve racial equity and justice.
The CRC Counseling Department supports you and encourages you to use our personal counseling services in addition to the career and academic assistance we also provide. If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis and need to talk with a counselor immediately, please visit our Counseling webpage or contact the counseling office at (916) 691-7316 or crc-counseling@crc.losrios.edu.