Members of the SUNY New Paltz Campus Community,

I want to thank the more than 150 members of the campus community who joined the Town Hall on Inclusion on February 10, and share highlights with those who could not participate. A special thanks to Richard Winters, Community and Government Relations Associate, who coordinated all the logistics which made the event successful; Tanhena Pacheco Dunn, Executive Director of Compliance and Campus Climate, for her leadership in conceiving of and developing the Town Hall; and Dr. Steven Jones for his guidance and facilitation of the discussion.

Forums such as the Town Hall are important steps to recognize experiences and concerns about exclusion, whether historical or contemporary, overt or unintentional. Dr. Jones asked participants to speak about ways that SUNY New Paltz “gets inclusion right” and the areas where New Paltz needs to grow and improve, recognizing that getting some things right does not eclipse our responsibility to change the experiences of exclusion that hurt and isolate. The purpose of this forum was to listen, not to argue about or parse out the individual experiences and perspectives we heard. 

Before the Town Hall, Dr. Jones met with smaller groups of faculty, administrators, and students to better understand experiences of exclusion on the New Paltz campus, and the ways individuals and the institution respond to them. Dr. Jones spoke about how we as individuals move through but more often around diversity and inclusion - intellectually, cognitively, and socially. Thus, he encouraged all of us to “lean into” the discomfort of this complex conversation as we listen to these experiences. He asked audience members to speak from personal perspectives to avoid generalizations and to help better focus attention on incidents of “otherization,” micro-aggression, and stereotype threat and how those experiences lead to isolation of members of our community. Here, he kept us focused on impact, and not on intent. Acts of exclusion drive people to the margins of our campus culture. When that happens, we deny all members of the community the opportunity to learn and appreciate diversity of thought and experience. 

Dr. Jones encouraged us to think of this as collective work, to be shared and made visible by all faculty, staff, administrators, and students. He provoked us to think about how every faculty member is the chief diversity officer of their classroom; every administrator is the chief diversity officer of their department; and every student leader or team captain is the chief diversity officer of their organization or team. I anticipate more such town halls in the future.

The event was audio taped and a transcript will be available soon. All information shared at the Town Hall is instructive, and will be considered as we move forward with this work. Here, I highlight a few selected comments, concerns, and perspectives shared during and since the Town Hall:

• The impact of different orientation programs for EOP and general-admit students. 
• The strength of the EOP program and its structure that promotes and supports so many students successfully.
• The need for greater education and awareness for faculty and professionals about military veterans in our community to foster greater connection to the campus community.
• The thoughtful and quick responses and leadership in moments of crisis, and the way the community rallies to support those affected by hateful acts.
• Concerns about affordability for additional educational components or experiences (field trips, required licensing or testing for those pursuing professional degrees).
• The great positive impact already being felt as a result of more intentional recruitment of faculty of color, and the need to continue those efforts to attract and retain faculty of color in all disciplines.
• The importance of broadening the audience for Black Solidarity Day so that it is experienced and valued campus wide.
• The need to do a better job explaining and perhaps educating students on how the institution manages and spends financial resources.
• Increased attention/efforts to raise admission rates of students of color, specifically African-American students, beyond representation of international students.
• A desire to see expansion of the EOP program.
• A need for more scholarships for underrepresented students outside of EOP.

Several important “next steps” are worth noting:

• This spring we will begin the work of identifying a Chief Diversity Officer. The campus will hear more about this in the coming month.   
• We will establish a diversity advisory council, whose initial responsibility will be to support development of a diversity and inclusion strategic plan, including consultation with those who participated in the Town Hall and others about specific initiatives and other elements of the plan. This group will become a standing committee to play a leadership role in implementing that plan. We hope to announce the membership of this inaugural diversity council in March. The diversity and inclusion plan will be finalized during the summer to submit to SUNY System Administration by the September 1, 2016 deadline.
• We will continue to keep the community informed and ask for community input as this work progresses.

Thank you again for engaging in an important step toward community and inclusion.

Donald P. Christian
President