To the Carleton Community,
As the recent Spring Term drew to a close, the ramifications from the murder of George Floyd and heightened awareness of the discrimination and injustices experienced daily by our students who are Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) impacted our community in differing and hurtful ways.
Many BIPOC students experience bias and discrimination at Carleton, and student leaders of the Black Student Alliance, the African and Caribbean Association, Men of Color, and student Departmental Advisors for the Africana Studies program have identified a number of areas where we have fallen short as a College. They presented to Carleton’s senior leadership team, Tuesday Group, a list of demands for improving campus life for BIPOC students. We carefully considered the list and met with these student leaders on June 11th to discuss and report on next steps for each of the demands. You can see the list of demands and an assessment/action report we shared with the students. Further progress reports will be forthcoming as our dialogue and work with the students continues.
We are grateful to our student leaders for raising these issues and are committed to making systemic, long-term changes that will improve the climate for BIPOC students at Carleton. Some of the called-for responses to the demands have been completed or will be completed in the near term, and others will take more time as appropriate campus committees are involved and further consultation with students, faculty, and staff are needed. Important steps in this work will be the implementation of forthcoming recommendations from the recently-appointed Community, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (CEDI) Action Team on anti-bias and anti-racism training. In the immediate term, plans are underway for mandatory training on these topics for all faculty, staff, students, and major volunteer groups, beginning this fall. More information on the work of CEDI and the Action Team can be found on the CEDI website.
All members of our community deserve a welcoming and supportive environment in which to pursue their educational and career goals. Until BIPOC students are free of discrimination and injustice at Carleton, we have not done enough. As the members of Tuesday Group, we pledge our support for this essential and overdue effort.
Sincerely,
Steve Poskanzer
President
Bev Nagel
Dean of the College
Art Rodriguez
Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid
Carolyn Livingston
Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students
Tommy Bonner
Vice President for External Relations
Eric Runestad
Vice President & Treasurer
George Shuffelton
Faculty President
Elise Eslinger
Vice President and Chief of Staff