To the Kenyon College Community,
On July 31 President Decatur announced an anti-racism plan for this year and the years ahead. In addition to a focus on meaningful education on anti-racism, productive conversations with local law enforcement, and a renewed focus on the mental health of Black students and students of color, the plan announced that the college would: “Establish an advisory committee to help prioritize the allocation of College resources toward anti-racism initiatives. This steering committee of students, faculty, staff and alumni will make recommendations on projects to be funded from a presidential discretionary account. Projects could include speakers or programming; educational or training activities; funding toward specific staffing needs or research projects; new initiatives to support student-centered research projects; or other activities.”
This committee has a limited, but important charge. The College will soon be soliciting proposals for anti-racism initiatives and activities. As these proposals come forward from students, staff, and faculty, this committee will evaluate them and help decide which should be funded and the level of support each deserves. We expect the committee to meet periodically to review these proposals.
The purpose of this email is to solicit expressions of interest from students, faculty, and staff who wish to serve on the committee. My consultations with the Student Council, the Staff Council, and the Chair of the Faculty indicate that an open call is the preferred method of soliciting self-nominations. Once the self-nominations have been received, a subcommittee of Senior Staff will assist in making the selections.
The committee will have sixteen members: four students, four staff members, four faculty, and four alumni. The committee will be constituted so that it has broad representation, e.g. students from various years, staff members from different divisions, and faculty from multiple departments. Provisions are being developed to guide the selection of alumni.
If you are interested in serving on this committee for this academic year, please email masonte@kenyon.edu no later than Friday, October 2, at 5 p.m. Your email should include the following:
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Your name.
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Whether you are student, staff or faculty. If a student, include your graduation year; if a staff member, the division in which you work; if a faculty member, your home department.
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A brief statement of no more than 250 words, outlining why you wish to serve and why you should be made a member of the committee.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I will answer your questions promptly.
Sincerely,
Ted Mason
Senior Advisor to the President
Associate Provost for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Professor of English