The Pact

How do seemingly nonracial organizational processes reproduce racial inequality?

In a new study published in Socius, Alanna Gillis and I investigate this question through the lens of “the Pact,” a restrictive 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. Find it here!