4 0 T H E T U S C A R O R A R E V I E W 2 0 2 3 Goss-Harris: You’ve talked about who you want to inspire and who you’re working with—is there anyone that inspired you? Dr. Dardello: I was raised by my grandparents. My grandmother had a fifth grade education and my grandfather had an eleventh grade education. My mom was ill and didn’t have the resources—I think she might have done the equivalent of community college, back in our hometown, but because of her illness she did not always have the resources or courage to advocate for herself. They are the inspiration for my work. For that reason, I want to inspire all students, especially those who have the odds stacked against them. I want them to know that with the right resources, people, and conditions, they can succeed. And I want to inspire educators to provide the right resources and conditions. I think it is our moral imperative, our duty, and our responsibility. Goss-Harris: We like to focus on the positive, but sometimes by looking at the negatives we can learn about what to correct for the future in order to improve our experiences. We’re wondering if you would like to speak to a negative issue related to DEI facing the FCC community, and one suggestion you may have for a potential correction. Dr. Dardello: When I grade student papers I have glow comments, and I have grow comments. So that is how I’d like to frame this question—FCC’s glowing, and has opportunities for growth. I’m proud of us as an institution—you have the support from the administration, the President, the Vice President, the Associate Vice President, and the Board of Trustees. They have all made a conscious decision to move in an intentional way that we have been in terms of equity for our students. I think we’re moving in the right direction. Faculty are transforming their syllabi, following up with actions that serve the community as a whole. My hope is that we will continue with the work, that we will continue to show up for the hard conversations, especially conversations that the Student Climate Survey invites us to have now, that have to do with race. Goss-Harris: Could you talk a little about the Student Climate Survey? Dr. Dardello: Sure. So the Student Climate Survey was issued almost a year ago. It is designed to get student’s perspectives on how they feel while being on campus—what is their sense of belonging here? How does the campus respond to race? Without having the survey on hand, I would say that my key takeaway from the survey is that
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