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Four women participating in a virtual video call, each in their own respective background. Top left: woman with curly gray hair wearing a red shirt, smiling. Top right: woman with short brown hair in a black shirt, smiling. Bottom left: woman with blonde hair, glasses, wearing a black sleeveless top, smiling. Bottom right: woman with dark hair, yellow top, smiling. Names displayed: michelelamont, Shira Zilberstein, Elena van Stee, Mari Sanchez. The bottom right corner has the logo 'contexts'.
Elena van Stee Elena van Stee

The Pact

How do seemingly nonracial organizational processes reproduce racial inequality? In a new study published in Socius, Alanna Gillis and I examine this question through the lens of “the Pact,” a COVID-19 behavioral policy implemented at a predominantly White U.S. liberal arts college during the 2020-2021 academic year. Drawing on three waves of yearly interviews with 30 undergraduates, we reveal how this ostensibly race-neutral policy inadvertently undermined social connection and belonging among the school’s small population of students of color.

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