Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
State and national events over the last few months have once again put a spotlight on how much Black Lives Matter and on how much work still needs to be done to address social injustice and racism towards our Black communities. I want to assure you that UMD is committed to taking impactful and measurable actions to provide a safe and welcoming campus for all. Goal 2 of the UMD Strategic Plan to “advance equity, diversity, inclusiveness, and social justice within the campus community” is and will remain a top priority for us moving forward.
The actions we take and our responses to everyday incidents should always be grounded in our core values and our commitment to social justice. There are times when members of our campus community say and do racist things. It is not acceptable. We must practice bystander intervention, call out unacceptable behavior when we see it, and feel empowered to report it.
As a public university we must operate within the law, which requires us to ensure First Amendment rights within our campus community, even if we feel that speech or behavior is hurtful and discriminatory. When such expressions are violations of our Student Conduct Code or other University policies, we take appropriate actions. In addition to our current campus climate initiatives, UMD senior leaders will encourage and support students, faculty, and staff in developing alternate strategies to address racism and other forms of hate.
I appreciate that members of our campus community are willing to be vocal, provide valuable input, and challenge me and my leadership team to do better. I hear you and take your concerns seriously. Over the last several weeks, I have received several communications on these topics and had many conversations with various members of our campus community. These conversations reinforce my strong commitment towards creating a more diverse and inclusive UMD, and to make meaningful change for our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities. In addition, we will continue to address the inequities that impact LGBTQIA, women, and other marginalized populations. I emphasize the necessity for our campus to be accountable for the following actions focused on making lasting and significant change here at UMD.
UMD’s 2020-2021 Diversity and Inclusion Action Steps:
State and national events over the last few months have once again put a spotlight on how much Black Lives Matter and on how much work still needs to be done to address social injustice and racism towards our Black communities. I want to assure you that UMD is committed to taking impactful and measurable actions to provide a safe and welcoming campus for all. Goal 2 of the UMD Strategic Plan to “advance equity, diversity, inclusiveness, and social justice within the campus community” is and will remain a top priority for us moving forward.
The actions we take and our responses to everyday incidents should always be grounded in our core values and our commitment to social justice. There are times when members of our campus community say and do racist things. It is not acceptable. We must practice bystander intervention, call out unacceptable behavior when we see it, and feel empowered to report it.
As a public university we must operate within the law, which requires us to ensure First Amendment rights within our campus community, even if we feel that speech or behavior is hurtful and discriminatory. When such expressions are violations of our Student Conduct Code or other University policies, we take appropriate actions. In addition to our current campus climate initiatives, UMD senior leaders will encourage and support students, faculty, and staff in developing alternate strategies to address racism and other forms of hate.
I appreciate that members of our campus community are willing to be vocal, provide valuable input, and challenge me and my leadership team to do better. I hear you and take your concerns seriously. Over the last several weeks, I have received several communications on these topics and had many conversations with various members of our campus community. These conversations reinforce my strong commitment towards creating a more diverse and inclusive UMD, and to make meaningful change for our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities. In addition, we will continue to address the inequities that impact LGBTQIA, women, and other marginalized populations. I emphasize the necessity for our campus to be accountable for the following actions focused on making lasting and significant change here at UMD.
UMD’s 2020-2021 Diversity and Inclusion Action Steps:
1. UMD is committing to bringing in third-party expertise to advise us regarding any policy
adaptations that could help the UMD Police Department to build upon the
department’s focus on campus public safety and the uniqueness of law
enforcement within our university community. We will encourage other
local law enforcement agencies to join us in combating racist and bias
behaviors.
2. We will expand our ongoing commitment to training by implementing a requirement for all faculty and staff to complete the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Managing Bias
online modules. These modules will be a baseline training, and we will
layer onto them anti-racism training beginning with supervisors.
Completion of training will be tracked in the Training Hub section of
MyU and monitored by supervisors in order to achieve 100% compliance
with the training requirement.
3. We will expand and broaden our current bystander intervention training and approach for students, faculty, and staff.
4. In collaboration with the Faculty Senate, we will review the Cultural Diversity in the U.S.
requirement that is part of the UMD Liberal Education curriculum, and
challenge academic majors to create an equity/diversity/inclusion
upper-division course or equivalent.
5. We will implement additional aggressive strategies for hiring and retaining more diverse administrators, faculty, and staff at UMD.
6. We will leverage current co-curricular programs that include diversity, equity, and inclusion to build a more comprehensive and cohesive set of student options and experiences that complement the academic curriculum.
7. Marketing and communication efforts across campus will accurately represent the diversity of our campus community.
6. We will leverage current co-curricular programs that include diversity, equity, and inclusion to build a more comprehensive and cohesive set of student options and experiences that complement the academic curriculum.
7. Marketing and communication efforts across campus will accurately represent the diversity of our campus community.
I
expect our campus climate teams, governance groups, departments, and
other units throughout campus to align their efforts and activities with
these priorities. The action steps support and complement our ongoing
campus climate work and our pursuit of UMD’s Goal 2.
Thank you for your continued support of UMD and for your commitment to creating a campus climate that truly welcomes and supports all members of our campus community.
With sincere commitment and appreciation,
Lendley C. Black
Chancellor
Thank you for your continued support of UMD and for your commitment to creating a campus climate that truly welcomes and supports all members of our campus community.
With sincere commitment and appreciation,
Lendley C. Black
Chancellor
