Aug. 28, 2020
Dear students, faculty and staff,
As a follow-up to the chancellor’s message earlier this week, I want to reaffirm my commitment to antiracism, equity, diversity and inclusion and to taking meaningful steps over the next several months as we roll out the campus diversity plan to effect the change we need now and in the future. Along with Chancellor DiStefano and other campus leaders, I, too, remain committed to more effectively engaging with Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC) who have felt left out of our efforts and conversations.
Last week, I met with several BIPOC student leaders, and we agreed to meet again next week to review the campus’s Inclusion, Diversity and Excellence in Academics (IDEA) Plan, which we will begin implementing this fall.
The IDEA Plan––the result of a collaborative process involving BIPOC and other students, faculty and staff––is the blueprint that will guide the university’s antiracism, diversity, equity and inclusion efforts this academic year and over the years to come. Conceived to address systemic barriers to success for BIPOC students, faculty and staff, it is a living document in response to past and present community concerns and will require constant change to address the campus’s evolving needs.
Chancellor DiStefano charged me with convening a committee to draft the wide-reaching plan with the overarching charges of promoting greater diversity among our students, faculty and staff; providing greater equity to underserved communities; and outlining, agreeing upon and establishing specific, actionable measures to foster more inclusivity in all our endeavors.
Daryl Maeda, an ethnic studies professor and associate dean for student success in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Merna Jacobsen, associate vice chancellor and deputy chief human resources officer, co-chaired the committee and––together with student government, faculty and staff governance groups and other key constituents––engaged in months of diligent work to bring the IDEA Plan to life.
Throughout this public process, the authoring committee solicited and gathered input from hundreds of campus stakeholders and analyzed this feedback to generate and deliver a draft, first to me, and then to the chancellor and his cabinet. In the end, this process culminated in a final draft that will guide our next steps this fall.
This summer, to begin laying the groundwork for implementing the IDEA Plan, the chancellor announced a critical step to enable this work: the convening of the Council for Community and Inclusion. The council, a strategic advisory group that includes student leaders, faculty and staff representing campus units, will work with our campus community to ensure that our efforts are congruent with and true to the recommendations of the IDEA Plan. It will also assume an important role in assessing our progress on the recommendations in the IDEA Plan and identifying areas of opportunity that will enhance our ability to achieve the goals articulated in the plan.
The council is currently forming subcommittees, will review the chancellor’s eight actions for change and provide guidance in the prioritization of the IDEA Plan’s recommendations. We are energized as the council begins its efforts to transform the academic, research and work experiences for students, faculty and staff who are currently at CU Boulder pursuing their goals––and for the generations to come.
As the chancellor acknowledged on Wednesday, we have heard the concerns of constituents who questioned our process for establishing the council, as well as our recent announcement naming the campus representatives whom unit leaders nominated. Moving forward, we are committed to further listening to the concerns of those seeking to play a broader role in this process, to engaging more effectively with our BIPOC community, and to adjusting our approaches to address immediate and ongoing needs as they arise.
To uphold the IDEA Plan’s guiding principles, we must remain true to them while at the same time being nimble and willing to correct our course to achieve success. We have heard and will continue to learn from the concerns of current BIPOC students, allies and others who are members of our campus community––those who have a vested interest in our collective success as the state’s flagship public research university and in the success of all communities of color at CU Boulder.
We thank our students, faculty and staff for holding us accountable, and we invite anyone who was not part of this transformative process at its inception to join us now as we work to bring about meaningful and lasting change.
Sincerely,
Bob Boswell
Vice Chancellor, Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement