| June 16, 2020
Dear Roadrunner community,
As the Board of Trustees for Metropolitan State University of Denver, we have issued the below resolution to express the University’s commitment to engaging in the anti-racism work necessary to create systemic change:
America is mourning. And it is critical we reassess what we have been doing to support racial justice and equity.
The threat against Black lives and the brutal structural racism that dehumanizes and destroys people of color cannot be ignored or pushed to the side by society any longer – the dam has broken, and waves of change will wash over our lives. Those that stay in silence are complicit in the violence against Black bodies. We know racism comes in many shapes and sizes affecting many groups, and what we aim to accomplish will serve to support racial justice, equity and inclusion for all.
There are no easy solutions to heal the racial trauma our Black students, faculty, staff and their families and communities have faced and continue to face. However, now is the time for disciplined and substantive action. This is a defining moment of our time.
Therefore, as the Board of Trustees for Metropolitan State University of Denver, we commit to:
Leading
- We will review our policies and practices and commence dismantling institutionalized racism in our own institution by including BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) voices in positions of power at every level of leadership and conducting open reviews for potential racial bias within our University’s policies and practice. This will require an honest, frank and humble look in the mirror, and we are ready.
- We will lead conversations centered around racial justice in the context of higher education throughout Colorado. The Board of Trustees and senior leadership of the University will engage in ongoing training on racial bias and institutionalized racism and will find ways to share our growth with others.
Organizing
- We commit to listen to, and work alongside, our students, staff and faculty and ensure they are equipped with the tools and support needed to dismantle structural racism and the enabled systemic inequities that result. We trust our students and their ability to be architects of the change that is needed – change that will be both bottom up and top down. Our job is to feed the minds of a generation and era, helping cast the vision for a better future and providing our students the tools to build it.
Establishing
- We will serve as a convener and bring together civic, industry, public and nonprofit leaders, activists, academics and our community to address the most pressing issues of racial justice facing our campus, city, state and world.
This moment is testing all of us, MSU Denver as an academic institution and our society as a whole; but it is an open-note test … that we will not fail.
Metropolitan State University of Denver Board of Trustees |
