Dear Members of the Carleton Community,
Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Carleton is establishing a $200,000 endowed scholarship in his memory that will be awarded to aspiring young Black and African-American student leaders beginning this fall. It is important that future generations of Carls remember this time in history and the horror Mr. Floyd’s death represents for all Americans, but especially for the Black and African-American communities. The George Floyd Memorial Scholarship will add to a number of existing endowed scholarships for students of color at Carleton. Funds to establish this endowed scholarship were provided by donors who made unrestricted gifts to the College through bequests in FY2020. With this action, we are affirming the challenge from the president of North Central University in Minneapolis that all colleges in the United States established their own George Floyd Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Additionally, we’ve seen communities come together to protest injustice and meet pressing needs after devastation. Many members of our Carleton community live in impacted areas, and they’ve shared with us their ideas about organizations in need of our support. On behalf of the students, faculty, and staff of Carleton, donations of $10,000 are being made both to A Mother’s Love and to the Harold Mezile North Community YMCA Youth & Teen Enrichment Center. These two organizations are working to meet the needs of residents in Minneapolis, and we are pleased to lend the College’s financial support to their efforts. Carleton is able to make these two gifts with funds from the President’s Discretionary Fund.
We furthermore encourage employees of the College to make personal contributions to organizations of their choice, as their financial circumstances allow.
Financial contributions make up just a small part of the many efforts we know the Carleton community and the College, itself, are making—and will make—in this time of change. We are inspired by the actions and generosity of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff, and we encourage all of us to consider the ways we can personally help organizations that are lending support in this difficult moment.
Additional steps will be taken in the weeks and months ahead. We look forward to the opportunity to work together as a community to advocate for and seek justice and equality.
Steve Poskanzer
President
Bev Nagel
Dean of the College
Fred Rogers
Vice President & Treasurer
Carolyn Livingston
Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students
Tommy Bonner
Vice President for External Relations
Art Rodriguez
Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid
George Shuffelton
Faculty President
Elise Eslinger
Vice President and Chief of Staff