Toni Johnson Center for Racial and Social Justice: A Catalyst for Change
Exciting things are happening in the KU School of Social Welfare’s Toni Johnson Center for Racial and Social Justice. The center’s leaders are collaborating with colleagues throughout the school to reimagine the catalytic role the center can play in fostering groundbreaking work in Kansas, the nation and the world focused on achieving justice and equity. They’ve brought in energetic new faculty affiliates, each engaged in innovative research in diverse areas of racial and social justice. And they are fueled by social welfare students, eager to make a difference, who are seeking out opportunities to join in research and take part in field practicums focused on racial and social justice.
Building a Strong Base
Since the Toni Johnson Center was founded in 2016 to honor Toni Johnson, Ph.D., a faculty member whose career focused on social and racial justice, the center has evolved and changed. Through the years, different faculty have lent their leadership and vision to the center’s work as they explored ways to fulfill its mission to promote an educational environment engaged in racial and social justice, advancing the well-being, success and equity of students of Color.
In large part, the center’s ongoing evolution reflects the school’s greater advancements in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
“Our school has been on a journey,” says Juliana Carlson, Ph.D., associate professor, as it grapples with questions like, “How are we showing up as a school in living out our commitment to anti-racism and anti-oppression?”
The very existence of the center, and the challenges and opportunities it offered, played a key role in helping the school make strides toward its mission to transform lives and social contexts and promote social, economic and environmental justice, adds Laura Ramirez, MSW, associate professor of practice.
“It helped to catapult us in a direction in moving toward the goal of the school being anti-racist and anti-oppressive, and heightening the work that Toni did,” she explains.
One of the center’s brightest successes is the thriving Toni Johnson Scholars for Racial and Social Justice program. The program supports students pursuing their bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in social welfare who have historically or contemporarily experienced marginalization and oppression. The program provides scholars with financial support, mentoring, leadership and professional development opportunities.
A Launch Pad for Growth
In 2021, the center took another big step forward in its work. The school recruited two faculty affiliates to bring their expertise and passion in helping shape the center’s next chapter: Missy Holder, Ph.D., assistant professor, and e alexander, Ph.D. assistant professor. Holder’s work explores the intersection of historical trauma among Indigenous women and intimate partner violence. alexander’s research interests include social disparities on college campuses, with a focus on wellness and advancement for professionals and students of Color.
Three additional new faculty members joined the center as affiliates in 2022, more than doubling its staff, expanding its scope and adding an international lens:
· Joonmo Kang, Ph.D., assistant professor, is engaged in the developing field of environmental justice, exploring how climate change disproportionately impacts marginalized people.
· Sicong “Summer” Sun, Ph.D., assistant professor, is focused on social determinants of health and health equity, and asset building and financial capacity among oppressed and marginalized communities.
· Claire Willey Sthapit, Ph.D., assistant professor, explores the translations between domestic violence research, policy and practice within the United States and in international development settings.
A team is now working to engage faculty and students in building on the center’s foundation. Their first step is to identify the work that is already being done across the school in the areas of racial and social justice, including research, teaching and curriculum development.
“Racial justice work is happening across the school, but we’re trying to identify where that is happening,” says alexander, who is leading the team’s efforts. “What does it look like and who are the people most benefitting from the work being done? Part of the goal is to identify what the gaps are so we can advance the center in a way where we are addressing those needs.”
The Legacy of Toni Johnson
Whether mentoring students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, researching vulnerable populations such as children of justice-involved parents or designing program like child asset accounts to move under-resources families out of poverty, Toni Johnson, Ph.D., spent her life advocating for racial justice. She served as an associate professor for the KU School of Social Welfare between 2005 to 2016, when she died at age 59.
As a practitioner, researcher and educator, Johnson was committed to social, racial and economic justice for youth and their families. At KU, she served as the director for the Multicultural Scholars Program and was the recipient of the W.T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence and the Gene A. and Gretchen Budig Award for Excellence in Teaching.
“Toni Johnson was a really lovely, beautiful human being, and having her pass was a really emotional experience for all of us,” remembers Juliana Carlson, Ph.D., associate professor, a colleague of Johnson’s. “The impetus for the center was out of that place of honoring her memory and honoring the focus of her scholarship.”
