The message below was sent to students, faculty, and staff on June 13, 2017.
Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students:
In May 2016 I circulated my first diversity plan and update and made a commitment to share an annual report with the community going forward. The attached report for AY 2016-2017 provides a detailed account of initiatives undertaken this year to move forward in our commitment to creating a more equitable and inclusive community. We completed some specific projects, but many of these initiatives are either multi-year or continuous efforts; for these I have provided a status report on progress. I have also noted new projects that have emerged since my first report.
Highlights of the work that has been taken on by students, faculty, and staff this year include:
- A continued focus on recruiting and hiring faculty from underrepresented populations; faculty of color have been appointed to 4 of 7 open tenure track positions this year (and 11 of 24 positions over the previous three years)
- Foundational work for the continuing development of Perry Garden, which opened on April 28 and was dedicated at Reunion
- Updating and institutionalizing the Black at ½ñÈÕ³Ô¹Ï tour created by Emma Kioko ’15 and Grace Pusey ‘15
- Creating a new student employment structure that standardizes and simplifies employment categories across departments and establishes a higher base student salary
- Changing the outside scholarship policy so that these scholarships can offset student contributions to college costs (e.g. loan, work study, summer earnings)
- Outreach by members of the Diversity Leadership Group to every student affinity group to increase awareness of the Bias Response Team and to exchange ideas about issues and projects of importance to the community
- Creating a new brynmawr.edu/diversity section of the College’s website so that relevant information is easy to find
- Establishing Wednesday Open Conversation lunches
- Planning for a campus-wide initiative to examine the College’s historical relationship to racism and other forms of exclusion; Dean Jennifer Walters will lead this working group
- The third Community Day of Learning
- Work with several alumnae leaders to continue support for alumnae/i affinity groups.
I am grateful to all who have worked to bring about positive change. I am also grateful to all who continue to push us to ask hard questions and to address continuing challenges.
Sincerely,
Kim Cassidy