December 10, 2014

Dear Campus Community,

Building a diverse and inclusive campus community is central to our mission. Over the course of Block 3, members of our campus community participated in over a dozen listening sessions, with specific sessions targeted to make sure we listened closely to the distinct voices, needs, and concerns of students, faculty, and staff. I want to thank everyone who participated in these meaningful and often challenging discussions.

Working together to envision Colorado College as the kind of institution we aspire to be drives our next steps. The comments from the campus listening sessions were shared with a third party to compile a summary document, with the goal of ensuring an objective eye on the material. As promised, attached here is that summary. A complete documentation of notes from all campus listening sessions can be read by logging in to Canvas and selecting "CC Community Course" from the Courses header. Because we promised anonymity to session participants, we've taken care to remove identifying information. If you need assistance using Canvas, reference this how-to guide.

We have made many strides toward building a more diverse, respectful, and inclusive community, but as we learned in these sessions, important work is still ahead of us.

Next Steps

I have asked our recently assembled Diversity and Equity Advisory Board, (approved at the Block 2 Faculty Meeting and the November Board of Trustees Meeting) to review the input from the listening sessions and make concrete recommendations. They will begin their work in Block 5. Because there are no students in this group, I have asked the CC Student Government Association and the Heads of State student group to work together on their recommendations. Implementation of recommendations will begin in Block 6, and I will continue to update the college about our progress.

I'm proud of the progress we've made at CC to create a diverse community that brings many voices to the table as we work together to cultivate a more inclusive climate. The culture of an institution is an expression of our deeply held values, and I believe that nurturing an inclusive one is central to our mission of academic excellence. I look forward to continuing this work together.

Best,

Jill