An Update on Creating a More Inclusive Community

Interim President Marcia J. White shared the following message with students, employees, alums, and Saint Rose families today:

Dear Students/Colleagues,

Tonight, myself and Dr. Shai Butler, vice president for student development and chief diversity officer, attended a Zoom meeting organized by students to address racism and bias on our campus. As not everyone in our community was in attendance at that meeting, I wanted to provide you with important updates on how we will continue moving forward with our work as a College.

• Based on community feedback and a review of our reporting process for incidents of bias and discrimination, the College has developed three methods for communicating such incidents and has improved reporting accessibility. We have also created a single place on the website where our priorities, actions, and resources around diversity and inclusion can be found. This area of the website, which also provides an opportunity to share ideas, provide feedback, and get involved, will be updated frequently.
• As a follow-up to the College-organized meeting on racial injustice held June 26 with our community, we have organized a follow-up meeting via Zoom for July 24 at noon. We will provide the Zoom link as that date nears. Follow-up meetings will be held every two weeks in order to maintain our momentum and continue community engagement and capacity building around improving the campus climate.
• I have appointed Yolanda Caldwell, the College’s director of the Women’s Leadership Institute and BOLD Women’s Leadership Network, to serve as the point person to move us through this process while we undertake a national search for a director of diversity and inclusion. Yolanda will work collaboratively with the College community as we establish frameworks for a truly diverse and inclusive campus. Yolanda defines inclusive excellence and has national and regional connections and resources that she is leveraging to inform our work.

We look forward to continued discussion and action, including having a new College policy for investigating incidents of bias and discrimination in place before the start of the Fall 2020 semester. We hear our students, and we will be relentless in this work until every member of our community feels at HOME.

Sincerely,

Marcia