In eight short days, USI will unveil its new Center for Social Justice. Its purpose is as vague as its name: the Center for Social Justice will "foster advocacy for social justice and empowerment through education, research and collaboration. We are dedicated to individual and societal well-being. Through access to information, services and resources we will serve the global community."
How, of course, USI's Center for Social Justice plans on serving the global community is unclear. The website links to other USI departments or press releases. Its research section contains only this nugget: "Complex, social problems require a multifacted approach to generate alternative approaches to strengthen helping systems and society. Faculty and students benefit from the opportunity to work with multiple disciplines." (What does that mean?)
Unfortunately, this much is clear: as the National Association of Scholars found, a social justice center at UMass "consisted of training in agitprop rather than real education. It used the term 'social justice' to justify an academic curriculum focused entirely on 'manifestations of oppression.'" It's unlikely USI's center will be any different -- especially if you take it at its current word.
So what can students and concerned campus reformers do?
