From SoLAR Executive Committee: Statement of Support and Call for Action

The Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR) condemns the murder and treatment of Black people and communities in the U.S. and worldwide, expressing its solidarity with peaceful non-violent protesters around the world and the Black Lives Matter movement. These current protests call our attention to lives lost to police and vigilante actions.

Know their names:

George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, Ahmaud Arbery, Corey Jones, Oscar Grant, Botham Jean, Rayshard Brooks...

Their names, and the names of many others who have been killed, matter.

We recognise that racial discrimination is pervasive also in academic institutions. We recognize that extant disparity influences our colleagues daily, and we must constantly listen, learn and reflect on how to identify and eliminate racial disparities. Our activities must reach beyond promoting the participation of underrepresented groups. We encourage members of our Society to mobilise our expertise and connections with communities to actively contribute to the hard work of promoting social justice and dismantling injustices in education.

As a scientific society dedicated to the improvement of education, our goals first and foremost should be aimed towards expanding the understanding of minority experiences and challenges. It is our duty to educate ourselves and to focus more actively on how to create an equitable and just environment for all academics, and people our work impacts, free from racial discrimination. The SoLAR Executive would like to express its commitment to increase attention, effort and actions to remove unjust treatment and racial discrimination from our activities. The SoLAR executive, together with contributions from our members, will start collating and distributing resources about how the community can support this movement through gaining knowledge and taking action.

-- Executive Committee of SoLAR