AAC&U’s Unite for Truth Giving Tuesday Campaign Will Support Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Centers

Washington, DC—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced Unite for Truth, a campaign to raise funds for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers. In conjunction with Giving Tuesday, the campaign goal is to reach $250,000 in pledges by December 1. The fundraising campaign will support the TRHT Campus Centers’ goal to establish 150 self-sustaining, community-integrated centers. Donors are invited to support this important work by visiting https://aacu.networkforgood.com/projects/113203-aac-u-giving-tuesday-unite-for-truth. A donation will continue the work of making quality and equity the foundations for excellence in undergraduate education in service to democracy.

In 2017, the first cohort of ten AAC&U member institutions created TRHT Campus Centers to develop and implement visionary action plans to move the needle on the transformative goal of erasing structural barriers to equal treatment and opportunity on campuses, in communities, and for the nation around the pillars of the TRHT Framework: narrative change, racial healing and relationship building, separation, law, and economy. Today, 26 colleges and universities have established TRHT centers that are preparing the next generation of leaders to address racism and to dismantle the persistent and false belief in a hierarchy of human value.

“Our nation is facing a long-overdue reckoning around racial justice,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella. “Now is the time for higher education to live up to its historic mission of educating for democracy. AAC&U’s Giving Tuesday campaign is designed to help us continue to grow the number of TRHT Campus Centers. Contributions to the campaign will provide vital support for one of the most promising efforts now underway within higher education to advance racial and social justice.”

In advance of Giving Tuesday, ETS, the world's largest private educational testing and measurement organization, and Wiley Education Services, part of John Wiley & Sons Inc. and a leading global provider of technology-enabled education solutions, have partnered with AAC&U to support the establishment of new TRHT Campus Centers.

“There is no greater time for ETS to be aligned in partnership with AAC&U’s Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Centers effort,” said Lenora Green, executive director of the Center for Advocacy and Philanthropy (CAAP) at ETS. CAAP is spearheading ETS’s involvement in this national initiative, which will include funding for two new centers: one at Rutgers University–Camden, and one at Mercer County Community College. “We believe that the time is always right to work toward transformational change, and to address racism and bigotry head on. ETS believes that this effort seeks to do just that and encourages other organizations to support it.”

“At Wiley Education Services, we work with our partners to empower learners to create positive change and this mission defines everything we do,” said Todd Zipper, president of Wiley Education Services. “As a higher education community, we have an important role to play in educating our future leaders and creating better, more inclusive, and more equitable communities. This is why we are pleased to support AAC&U’s Giving Tuesday campaign, Unite for Truth.”

AAC&U expresses gratitude to ETS and Wiley Education Services, recognizing their impactful contributions that will create TRHT Campus Centers and continue our shared work.

To learn more about the campaign, click here.

To learn more about TRHT Campus Centers, click here.

About AAC&U

AAC&U is the leading national association dedicated to advancing the vitality and public standing of liberal education by making quality and equity the foundations for excellence in undergraduate education in service to democracy. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises more than 1,200 member institutions—including accredited public and private colleges, community colleges, research universities, and comprehensive universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, faculty, and staff engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Through a broad range of activities, AAC&U reinforces the collective commitment to liberal education at the national, local, and global levels. Its high-quality programs, publications, research, meetings, institutes, public outreach efforts, and campus-based projects help individual institutions ensure that the quality of student learning is central to their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.

For more information, visit www.aacu.org.