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Update on the UW Race & Equity Initiative

When I launched the Race & Equity Initiative almost a year ago, I noted that these were difficult times for those of us who view diversity and equity as core values, who believe in justice and fairness, and who are committed to making this an inclusive and openhearted campus for all. Many of our students, along with faculty and staff, have taken strong stands in opposition to the bias and racism that is present in our society and on our campuses, both from individuals but also embedded in our institutional structures. And they continue to stand in support of needed change.

From marches and public demonstrations to coalition-building and engaging with the administration, faculty, staff and students across all campuses are working to bring about change through many venues. We welcome and encourage your involvement. To the extent possible, we will be using the Race & Equity webpage as a place to inform you of the work taking place across our campuses to address equity and social justice issues. You will find new information there about the progress we have made to date, resources on diversity efforts on all three campuses and actions planned for this spring and summer, many of which address specific issues raised in recent months.

Change, especially when it is long overdue, is always too slow. This may be especially the case in colleges and universities, where power is distributed and change rarely takes place in a top-down fashion. I recognize this, as do my colleagues in positions of leadership at the UW. Racism and bigotry have no place on our campuses; we condemn any and all incidents of this nature here (and everywhere!). They are antithetical to our mission as a public university, and as a place for learning and promoting the health and welfare of all members of our community, state, nation and world. So I am taking this opportunity to reiterate that we stand in solidarity with all of you who oppose oppression and inequity.

I am very grateful for the hard work that the Race & Equity Steering Committee is taking on, on behalf of all of us. There is no doubt that there will be missteps, miscues and challenges along the way, as we struggle with problems that have vexed society across the ages. But we are 100% committed to listening to your concerns and making changes for the better. Together, we can make progress toward equity and inclusion and toward building the kind of university and world that will allow ALL of us the opportunity to realize our human potential.

Mark this webpage, so you can return to it to track our progress and learn about new initiatives. Let’s keep the dialogue open and thank you for staying engaged.