History will be made when Sim Covington takes seat on Canandaigua City Council

Teaching is Sim Covington Jr.’s job; learning is his passion.

Covington — who is Finger Lakes Community College’s inaugural chief diversity officer— is a student at the University of Alabama.

But more of his efforts in the classroom are showcased on his FLCC office wall: undergraduate degree from the University of Albany, doctoral degree from Northeastern University in Boston, MBA from SUNY Polytechnic Institute, advanced certificate of human resources at Empire State College, as well as recognitions of his training work at various police agencies throughout the Finger Lakes are among the assorted photos and drawings also on display.

He’s also completed all sorts of leadership development programs through colleges at various parts of the country and, closer to home, completed African American and Pride leadership development programs out of the United Way of Rochester.

Covington encourages people to engage in their own professional development because it’s important to be an active participant in both educational and career journeys— and the wall in his office offers proof that he practices what he preaches.

“What I like about learning is an opportunity for me to expand my mental horizons,” said Covington, days after his election to an at-large seat on Canandaigua City Council in November became official. “I really enjoy learning. Executive education has created a rich platform for me to learn in a geographic diverse arena. Me not having an opportunity to engage in professional development? I just can’t see it. I love it.”

Covington has been teaching and learning since he’s come to the college and Canandaigua community in January 2018, in some ways unexpectedly.

In a few short years, he’s not only making his presence felt at the college, he’s also been thrust into the spotlight when national events called upon someone to make sense of it locally.

And by many accounts, Covington, who as near as city officials can tell will be the first Black man elected to serve on City Council, rose to the occasion.

Campus life

The FLCC job — this is his fourth campus — brought Covington, who grew up in Brooklyn, to Canandaigua. His background is in psychology, and he worked in higher education career services for 13 years, though at the time he was only six months into diversity work. But after attending a diversity workshop — again, more learning — he found a new calling.

“I got into this work specifically in order to create meaningful dialogue and understanding about the systemic oppression that has been reflected within the fabric and history of this country,” Covington said.

Finger Lakes Community College had been moving toward having a chief diversity officer prior to President Rob Nye's arrival at the college in 2016. Afterward, when SUNY required all campuses to appoint someone to this role, FLCC decided to make it full time, which was “a huge change for us,” Nye said.

The chief diversity officer is responsible for fostering a campuswide environment that values and promotes mutual respect through diversity celebrations and programs, diversity training and community outreach.

Covington came into the new job with eyes wide open.

“To not expect resistance relative to this work would be naïve,” Covington said. “Also, by default of what I do, I’m the inaugural chief diversity officer at a predominately white institution so, the bottom line is, there is going to be a little bit of a lift.”

Still, Covington said that within one year of his hire, the college moved forward with a campus climate survey centered on diversity, equity and inclusion, “and we got a record number of responses for a community college.”

Also, Nye said the college’s first diversity, equity and inclusion plan has been completed and approved through Covington’s leadership, and many of the goals in that plan are coming to fruition right now.

Enrollment of underrepresented minorities has increased, and the ability to help those students when they come to FLCC has improved, Nye said. Covington also is involved in helping to enhance cultural diversity in the college’s lessons plans and syllabi for faculty to help students learn and grow.

Covington has just been a wonderful role model within the college, and representing the college in the community, Nye said.

“We are blessed to have (Covington) here,” Nye said. “I think the most special skill that he brings to the table is, he’s a bridge builder and he spans boundaries between different groups of people. That makes a huge difference and makes them feel comfortable in spanning those boundaries.”

Black Lives Matter

Two years into his new job, national events thrust Covington into a more prominent role in his new community.

There was the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was pinned to the ground by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota during an arrest in 2020 and died. That officer, Derek Chauvin, ultimately was found guilty of two murder and one manslaughter charges.

More: At George Floyd Square, Derek Chauvin's sentencing is 'first step' toward police accountability

Covington spoke at two resulting Black Lives Matter demonstrations within a week in Canandaigua, at a point when the community was just emerging from many months of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. At the time, he said it was important for him to address a crowd — a predominately white crowd at that — because “the people who are getting killed look like me.”

Looking back, Covington said he has experienced racism here and in general, through interactions with people — or lack thereof.

“The myth is that by default of either my academic or professional success that I’m immune to that. That’s the furthest thing from the truth,” Covington said. “Everyone has implicit bias. By default of my social identity, the first one that is going to be most probable is race. Absolutely, I’ve experienced racism. I still do on a regular basis.

“One of the things that we all have is the opportunity to engage in observational learning," Covington continued. “I can see how a stakeholder may interact with others versus how they interact with me. You can tell there is something going on within that energy.”

“The myth is that if someone doesn’t try to do something to you explicitly, then the reality that you’re claiming doesn’t exist. I disagree,” Covington said. “I don’t have to explicitly tell you something nasty in order for you to feel I don’t like you. You can feel negative energy. I think that it’s unfortunate on so many fronts.”

And, he said, it’s not just race, but gender.

“I think on all fronts, oppressed groups tend to struggle with things like that in this country,” Covington said.

The Black Lives Matter events created a rich opportunity to bring light to "bias that may be reflected in the community that we would like to meaningfully work to dissolve,” he said, things that are part of the undercurrent of many communities throughout the United States, including the city of Canandaigua.

The protests led to his implicit bias training work for law enforcement officers in Canandaigua, Ontario County, Geneva and others in the Finger Lakes as well as help in crafting mandatory policing reform plans.

Through implicit bias training, Canandaigua Police Chief Mathew Nielsen said officers learned to recognize that each person has preconceived notions about others and they work to overcome them. Covington has a unique way of instruction and connecting with officers, Nielsen said.

“Once there’s that mutual respect between people, then the information is definitely dispensed a lot quicker with a lot more meaning behind it,” Nielsen said, adding the training resonated with officers. “They have high regard and respect for what he’s done for the community by helping them do their jobs better.”

Covington, who provided training for a new cohort of the Finger Lakes Law Enforcement Academy and was a keynote speaker at their graduation, said the work and acceptance of it have been going very well here.

“Within all segments of society, work still needs to be done but very important, work needs to be done in the right way,” Covington said.

Goals for the city

Building on his work with police agencies as well as his general work in diversity at the college and community, Covington’s goals as a city councilmember should come as no surprise.

Support of diverse constituents in the city as well as social justice and its impact on the community are important to him.

But so is supporting the police chief in keeping the city safe, he said, as well as building on town-gown relationships — the collaboration between the city and college for the betterment of both, as the phrase goes.

Also very important to him is environmental conservation — particularly the health of Canandaigua Lake — which is an issue that he believes offers a wonderful and rich opportunity for building on the relationship between the city and college, which he notes has a quality environmental conservation department.

It’s not lost on Covington that in just three short years, he was elected to office in a community new to him. Heading into his first year in office, he's looking forward to an exciting challenge and learning experience.

“I’m flattered and honored to be here,” Covington said.

Republican Canandaigua Mayor Bob Palumbo, who shortly after the Black Lives Matter events in 2020 approached Covington about serving on a city diversity committee, plans to appoint him to City Council’s environmental committee, he said.

"It’s just been a big benefit to have him in the community, and it’s going to be a great benefit to have him on council,” Palumbo said. “I look forward to working with him.”

Always learning, and teaching

So many instances of a Black person being pulled over by police have resulted in unhappy and at times tragic endings. Covington also believes it is just as important to share publicly when interactions have gone right as it is wrong.

Covington has a story with an outcome that he said is deserving of praise.

This just happened to be one of those nights for Covington, who wanted to get home from work, pop open a carton of ice cream, and watch episodes of the comedy “Frasier” until he fell asleep. But on his way home, he was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy.

His interaction was, he said, “extremely positive” and emblematic of his overall experience since coming here.

“Since moving here, and based on a lot of the stuff we see in the national narrative, there may be an impression that by default of the color of my skin, that my experience here is always negative. That’s not necessarily true,” Covington said. “FLCC has provided a great opportunity. In addition to that, let’s not forget, that within four years of stepping foot in Canandaigua, the fact of the matter is I made it onto City Council. I think it’s extremely important for people to understand that we cannot always operate off of implicit bias. Because implicit bias is going to say, ‘I’m not going to run for this. They would never put a Black man in office.’

"That’s not the case.”

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Sim Covington to be first Black man on Canandaigua NY City Council