Ruffin: 'Change will only come if we disrupt what we’re currently doing'

Med City Beat contributor Jennifer Davidson recently sat down with Will Ruffin II, executive director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Rochester Public Schools to get an update on his role since being hired in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in 2020.

It’s his department’s responsibility to apply an equity lens across all departments in the district. This, for example, includes examining interview questions and job descriptions to ensure the district is being inclusive, rather than putting up barriers for people.

Up to four staff at each district building are designated as equity teacher leaders to champion equity in their building and be available to staff when they have questions. Ruffin’s department also recently hired a part-time American Indian liaison, bringing the district’s total to 1.5. He is looking to hire an additional eight equity specialists in the future.

The interview that follows has been edited only for flow and clarity.

In your role, it’s about adding an equity lens to absolutely everything, which is a big task, and honestly, it sounds overwhelming. Do you feel pressure to try to “fix” things? 

Ruffin: Traditionally in this district, it hasn't always been easy to speak out for things, or to say or do the right thing. So, I think that’s a reason why this role is so important. We have a lot of people doing good work in our buildings, and they’re often silenced. They’re often pushed aside, made to believe that they’re not valued because what they want to do is change and disrupt. And I think now that group of people, that person who thinks like that, has like a little symbol of hope to say that what I am thinking, what I know in my core to be the right thing, is actually the right thing, and now we have a person that can help me along this journey. So, it’s daunting for sure, but it’s needed. It’s needed. Change will only come if we disrupt what we’re currently doing.

You mentioned the district is hiring eight more equity specialists. What’s the goal behind that?

Ruffin: One of my personal goals for this department is to revamp what that role of the equity specialist is. I think when the roles aren’t clear, then they will be used as, “This kid got in trouble, can you talk to that kid?” So, ideally, we would have a hundred equity specialists in a building because all of us are talking to the kids, and “dealing” with the kids. Right? So, we’re trying to shift that away to more of a partnership role. An equity specialist can work alongside a teacher in the classroom and provide a different perspective. We’re only 4 percent teachers of color in our district. One percent are Black teachers in our district. So, when you’re planning a lesson or planning an activity, now we can offer a person who has a different perspective that can help work alongside you and say, “Hey, have you thought about this? Or maybe instead of doing this, you could do it this way, the kids might respond better.” 

So, they’d be more like instructional coaches?

Ruffin: Yeah, so if you think about it, the teachers have been trained in their instructional practices, but may not have the lived experiences of some of the students in their classroom. 

It doesn’t mean they’re not going to be a good teacher, that’s the point I want to get out there; it only means your level of experience may not match the lived experience of your students. And if you can somehow bridge that, that will make you an even more effective teacher. So, that’s where our equity specialists come in. They may not have been trained in instructional practices, but they do have the lived experiences that partner with the teacher to make more effective practices in the classroom.

Let’s talk about progress. What do you think it looks like, and how will you know when any has been made?

Ruffin: Progress looks like our students being excited to go to school, our students are going to class because they want to be there, our students feel welcomed in the classroom, our students don’t have to hide or suppress parts of themselves. And they can be in our school buildings freely. That to me is progress. Obviously, you know, thinking academically, we have more students graduating. Students going into higher wage jobs versus entry-level positions. I think all of that is progress. If we can move the needle of Black teachers from 1 percent to anything else, that’s progress. 

Aside from making progress, is there anything else you strive to accomplish in your role?

Ruffin: At the risk of sounding cheesy, I want to be a beacon of hope for so many people, mainly parents. I feel like we have a sector of our community who has lost hope in our school district because of whatever experience they had. I would love to be able to tell them we are different now, we have grown, we have learned, and we want to make things right for you and your kids. And we want to be better for all the other kids to come. 

You shared some of your childhood experiences with me earlier, and you mentioned being in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots and feeling so much tension. Do you feel like the tension is the same now? Or, now that you’re older, do you see things differently? 

Ruffin: I’m older now, and I will also say that our students are experiencing the same things in our schools today. 

what, if anything, has changed?

Ruffin: The year. The number of the year. But the situations are the same. So, that drives me, right? So, I’m in a classroom and the kids are talking, I understand what they’re saying because I felt it. I believe them automatically instead of trying to excuse away their feelings like many of our adults do. Because we don’t understand it, we excuse it away. And that alienates a kid. And now that I’m a parent of four boys, and understanding that nothing has changed, I don’t want them to go through anything that I had to go through either. So, the urgency is for change is huge.

Do you feel the urgency more now because you have four boys?

Ruffin: It is definitely heightened when the kids are my own. The urgency was there for other people’s kids for sure, but it’s like tenfold when the kid is yours.

Not to add more pressure, but if we lived in a perfect world, what would it look like? What could allow you to walk away from your job and feel accomplished?

Ruffin: Empowering students. Empowering staff, for sure. And empowering parents and other community partners. And then seeing all four sectors: students, school staff, parents, and the community working together. I think that would be the perfect world. Whatever that vision is, not harmony, but to see a problem, to go after the problem together, and then to come out on the other side with a better product. I think that’s where it is.

Jennifer L. Davidson is a freelance writer and youth creative writing instructor. She is also the owner of Rochester Writing Lab.