Campus Update from President Shepard

Dear Western Community,

The end of the academic session typically invites a period of reflection, in the present case an opportunity to reflect personally and collectively on recent events on campus and their underlying contexts.  Clearly we have been affected by the deep pain our students of color are experiencing. This pain has significantly affected our campus community on individual and collective levels.

I deeply appreciate the way our campus community has responded.  A significant amount of activity has been occurring all over campus the past two weeks as a result of this crisis, including:

• Increased police protection has continued for the campus as a whole, for specific campus events, and for individuals directly targeted by specific threats.  Thank you to the officers who have spent many extra hours and to the local police for their support of this increased protection.
• Listening sessions titled “courageous conversations” have been occurring all over campus, and the feedback from these sessions is being gathered as a foundation for future planning.  Many thanks to Dr. Karen Dade, Leonard Jones, Nick Sanchez, Dr. Shari Robinson, and all of the Deans and many others who have supported and in many cases facilitated those sessions.  This is just a beginning of the work we need to do together.
• Cultural competency training sessions, which were already scheduled through the Campus Equity and Inclusion Forum, are moving forward. Enrollment has been strong, and this is only the beginning. Thank you to the many faculty and staff who have offered their time and expertise for these sessions. I will be starting the new year with a charge to leadership on campus regarding expanding and deepening these training opportunities.
• University leaders continue to participate in relevant professional development webinars and conferences.
• Campus police updated their diversity training with officers as Chief Rasmussen worked with Nick Sanchez to make this a priority.
• Police investigations have continued with the hopes of identifying others that may have posted statements on Yik Yak or other social media platforms and will continue until the leads are exhausted.
• Outside consultants are being hired to review safety protocols, including specialists in university police work, along with a consultant on race relations.  The safety of our University community is paramount for students, faculty, and staff.
• There is an administrative group developing a model for a racial incident response team.
• The Co-Chairs of the President’s Task Force on Equity, Inclusion and Diversity will be briefing the Board of Trustees this Friday on the development of their Strategic Plan.

These are just a start.  We are now in a time where it is essential for us to listen, learn and collaborate to address issues to Western’s continuing success.  This is a conversation that starts with Western, but it is also critically important for each of us to understand that Western students, and students across the country, want us to join them in addressing issues of racism and other inequities in our country and in our world. 

The safety of our students and our entire campus community has been and always will be paramount for me.  Criticisms have been made about safety by students and employees of color and we are, and will continue, to review those concerns as well as our normal processes and protocols.  While no physical attacks have occurred, it is clear the same cannot be said about various forms of macro and micro aggressions, as our students and employees of color regularly experience them. 

It is important that we all come back from the winter break with a goal of making the weeks, months, and years ahead a transformational time for Western.  We as a community need to step back and to listen, learn and collaborate.  We will only know the answers by continuing to learn about each other’s experiences, and living out empathy.  We fully expect that through good dialog and working together we can make our campus climate a welcoming one for all. We recognize that this does not happen quickly nor will we have a situation where we don’t make mistakes along the way. But we must and will roll up our sleeves and address our issues one person at a time…starting with ourselves.

Cyndie and I wish all peace, joy and good health in this holiday season.

Bruce