About Us
William E. “Brit” Kirwan
The Institute is named for William E. “Brit” Kirwan, former President of The Ohio State University, in recognition of his significant and successful efforts to champion diversity at the University.
In a June 2000 letter announcing the University Diversity Action Plan, President Kirwan and then Provost Edward J. Ray told the university community that “…Support for diversity is an affirmation of each individual’s intrinsic value and of that person’s potential and actual contribution to social/political/economic improvement. Moreover, a diverse environment tests, shapes, and educates each of us to more fully realize our potential.” Since leaving OSU in 2002, President Kirwan has continued to support the Institute.
The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity was established at The Ohio State University in May of 2003. The focus of the Institute is national and global. A preliminary mission, rationale and a basic structure for the Institute was articulated in a March 2002 proposal authored by an Ad Hoc Committee representing the College of Humanities, the Moritz College of Law and The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. This group envisioned an Institute that would establish the University as a national leader in an emerging interdisciplinary field with significant opportunities for both academic recognition and external funding. In the articulation of a mission statement, the Ad Hoc Committee established a framework in which the Institute’s energy would be focused in the following ways:
- Fostering critical and creative thinking on concepts about race and ethnicity;
- examining hierarchies and systems of control, domination, and oppression;
- exploring the interrelatedness of race and ethnicity to other foci such as gender and class;
- examining the cultural, economic, political, and social experiences of racial and ethnic minority groups in the Americas;
- interrogating the material conditions of life and achievement among groups who are systematically subjected to systems of domination and oppression.
Under Professor john powell’s leadership, the Kirwan Institute has worked diligently, deliberately, strategically and collaboratively on these pathways. The penultimate goal of the Institute is to deepen the understanding of the causes and consequences of and solutions to racial and ethnic hierarchy and disparity with a focus on racially and ethnically marginalized populations. The successful pursuit of this goal has significantly enhanced the reputation of the University as a center of research and scholarship on issues related to race, ethnicity, democracy, and social justice. Our ultimate goal is to stimulate and facilitate transformative change to bring about a society that is fair and just for all people. We approach these goals with the understanding that all communities of people are interconnected and that by fostering positive relationships through research, scholarship and collaboration, we will deepen the possibility for change.
