Message of solidarity from President Thom

Dear Clarke University students, colleagues, friends, and community members,

Since I first posted my video statement and initial CU action plan on racial justice on June 3, 2020, many of you have responded with questions about how you can engage in the process, whether those words would truly become actions, or just to keep me accountable. I welcome it all and have news to report.

The initial team of students and employees who came together to discuss and move forward racial justice issues at Clarke has so far:

• Created a set of open-ended questions to utilize in the guided conversations;
• Sent an invitation to all student organization presidents, inviting groups to coordinate a conversation among their membership;
• Discussed creating additional gatherings of athletic teams, and for students not affiliated with an organization;
• Created a site for resource collection, with the intent to continue to build upon resources already available on our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion portal page;
• Begun drafting the next steps to create space for employees to have open, authentic and vulnerable conversations regarding race and justice issues; and
• Scheduled the first four student sessions for this week with plans to plug interested students into each session.

This is not a task force. This is not a committee. This is a movement.

If you would like to be a part of how it comes together, where we go next, share resources, and learn how you can help, contact Callie Clark (callie.clark@clarke.edu) or Carissa Downs (carissa.downs@clarke.edu) for more information. This is only the beginning.