President’s Letter on Inclusion, Fall 2015
December 2, 2015
To the students, staff, and faculty of Boston University,
The recent student activism at many of our nation’s universities—including our own—is bringing important attention to issues of race and inclusivity on campus, with a particular focus on the experiences and concerns of our black students. This activism is a significant reminder of the unresolved challenge we all face: to build both a society and a university community that is inclusive, equitable, free of oppression, and welcoming. As a university, we have a special obligation to take on difficult and complex challenges. The creation of a community that recognizes and respects all of our students, faculty, and staff is no exception to this obligation.
In recent weeks, University Provost Jean Morrison, Dean of Students Kenn Elmore, and I have met with multiple groups of students, including leaders of organizations representing our black student communities, communities of color, and LGBTIQ students. Provost Morrison, Dean Elmore, and I have appreciated both the candor and passion in these discussions. These conversations have helped us to understand the climate on campus, as well as areas in which we need to focus our attention and expand existing efforts to promote inclusion. We also recognize the need to communicate more—and more clearly—about these efforts to bring more black and Latino faculty and students to our community and continuously address factors that help them succeed at the University.
As a result of these meetings and our own deliberations, I would like to share with you four commitments for next steps. These commitments both build on our ongoing efforts to increase diversity and respond to our recent conversations with our students. They reflect the importance of staying the course in our efforts to address the challenge we face and identify some new concrete ways to move forward.
We commit to the following:
- Faculty. We commit to sustained and vigorous efforts to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of our faculty. We commit also to full transparency about our progress toward building a more diverse faculty through our hiring and retention efforts. We have created metrics on the racial and ethnic diversity of our faculty and students that we share with the University Council on an annual basis. This will enable us to collectively assess our progress and modify our efforts accordingly to ensure we are making progress. We also await the recommendations of the Task Force on Faculty Diversity and Inclusion that will inform this initiative.
- Student Diversity. The University is committed to building a diverse student body that represents our nation and the world. Our freshman class this fall is the most diverse in our history: over 18 percent of all entering freshmen and 25 percent of entering domestic students are underrepresented minorities. Black students are approximately 7 percent of our domestic fall 2015 freshman class. Although we are making strides in our recruiting efforts, we still have much more to do. We also commit to working with our PhD programs to increase the numbers of underrepresented minority students, as these programs educate the future faculty members for universities across the country.
- Community. Today, the Boston University undergraduate student body is as diverse as it has ever been; yet we have not been able to create a fully inclusive community that fosters real understanding and respect. To work toward this goal, we commit to develop programs and spaces that help bridge our differences and promote meaningful dialogue and conversations. University Provost Jean Morrison, Dean of Students Kenn Elmore, and I have formed a committee of students, staff, and faculty to propose an expanded and more visible Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground that can be a place to establish the inclusive community we all desire. We will provide the space and financial resources to enact the committee’s recommendations. We have asked Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore of the School of Theology and Dean of Students Kenn Elmore to co-chair this committee. Dean Moore brings considerable experience to this discussion, as she has led the School of Theology in its initiatives to diversify the faculty and create an inclusive culture. Through scholarship and focused seminars and town hall meetings, the School has made significant progress in advancing cultural competency. The membership of this committee is:
- William Belt, COM’16, President of UMOJA (Black Student Union)
- Andrew Cho, CAS’16, President of Student Government
- Ashley Guillaume, CAS’17, President of SOCA (Students of Caribbean Ancestry)
- Katherine Kennedy, Director of the Howard Thurman Center
- Micayla LeLugas, CAS’16, Co-Liaison to the Board of CGSA (Center for Gender, Sexuality & Activism)
- Francine Montemurro, University Ombuds
- Tyrone Porter, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
- John Thornton, Professor of African American Studies, College of Arts & Sciences
- Gabriella Vasquez, SAR’16, Executive Board, Alianza Latina
- Education. The University is currently developing its first true University-wide General Education Program to identify the core knowledge, skills, and habits of mind that BU undergraduates need to thrive in their professional, personal, and civic lives in the 21st century. One of the proposed components of a set of requirements is “understanding diversity.” As we consider the education of all Boston University students for the 21st century, we commit to focusing on the importance of understanding multicultural, ethnic, and multiracial heritages as key to the success of our students in society.
Much has been done throughout the history of Boston University to realize the aspirations of our founders and make good on their commitments: to build a university open and welcoming to all. But we know that there is much more to be done. Howard Thurman wrote, “Community cannot for long feed on itself; it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond, their unknown and undiscovered brothers.” We must do more to create the inclusive community, free of artificial boundaries, that Thurman envisioned in his The Search For Common Ground: An Inquiry into the Basis of Man’s Experience of Community, from which this quote is taken. Let’s work together to make Boston University such a community.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Brown
President