Associate professor appointed to chair the AAUP Racial Justice Committee

Dec. 15, 2020

KALAMAZOO, Mich.— Dr. Glinda Rawls, associate professor of counselor education and counseling psychology, has been appointed by the national president of American Association of University Professors (AAUP) to chair the AAUP Racial Justice Committee.

Because of several racial incidents this past summer, large protests shined a spotlight on systemic racism within society, including higher education. Considering these recent events, AAUP was committed to better understanding and addressing systemic racism within the association (including regional chapters) and the organization (headquarters in Washington, D.C.).

The newly created Racial Justice Committee, that Dr. Rawls chairs, has begun soliciting diversity consultant firms to engage the organization in not only organizational and systemic change, but also diversity training and strategic planning. After securing a diversity consultant, the racial justice committee will be engaged in several tasks that will help AAUP.

“I am very proud to be on the AAUP national council and to have been appointed to chair a very significant committee within the AAUP,” Dr. Rawls states.

Dr. Rawls has been at the university since 2007, teaching graduate students who are pursuing master's and doctoral degrees in counselor education. Prior to teaching, she was a college counselor for six years. She is a licensed mental health profession and is credentialed as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Michigan. She is also a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) and Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) which are certifications issued by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) and a Master Career Counselor (MCC) which is a certification issued by the National Career Development Association.