January 13, 2025

Dear Students:

As many of you have heard, colleges and universities (especially in the Northeast) are beginning to experience demographic shifts that have led to fewer students enrolling in higher education. It is a trend that is expected to continue for some time and, as a result, many higher education institutions — including Clark — are having to make adjustments in programs, services, and other aspects of our academic offerings. Any changes are, first and foremost, made with a commitment to offering the very best and most meaningful experience for our students and ensuring we remain strong well into the future.

Within this context, today, we are writing to share changes in our approach to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), which continues to be a high priority at Clark.

Our approach has always been a distributed one with shared responsibility and accountability across the University. It is important that we all are invested in these important values and that programming and initiatives are designed and delivered in the most accessible way. At the same time, it is imperative that we sustain our very strong institutional commitment to DEIB. Fostering and promoting a diverse community of students, faculty, and staff, in which all feel welcome and that they belong, is core to who we are as a University.

With those goals in mind, for the remainder of the academic year, our efforts around DEIB will be directed, collaboratively, by three units — all led by senior administrators who are members of our senior leadership team: the Division of Student Success, the Office of the Provost, and the Office of Human Resources and Organizational Excellence. Generally, each will be responsible for:

Division of Student Success (the student experience):

Office of the Provost (the academic experience):

Office of Human Resources and Organizational Excellence (our operations):

Peyton Wu, in their recently expanded role as director of student engagement and equity, will be leading overall efforts within the Division of Student Success, working very closely with Dean Kiem. Peyton oversees Identity, Student Engagement, and Access, Student Leadership and Programming, Community Engagement, and eSports — all of which have been consolidated into a single, integrated unit. We are excited about the opportunity to streamline and elevate work in these areas and know it will create an intersectional and collaborative approach with our students.

The work of the former Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will be continued by other units. Margo Foreman, who served as our Chief Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, stepped down from her role on January 3. We and President Fithian deeply appreciate Margo’s leadership, collaboration, and the work she has done with and on behalf of our Clark community, and wish her the very best. Henry Chambers, who has served as Associate Director of DEI Training and Education, will be joining the Office of Human Resources and Organizational Excellence to lead DEI programming and initiatives. Henry will be a tremendous boost for staff and organization-wide efforts, and we are excited about his new role. The Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program will be housed within the School of Professional Studies. Ashley Caruso, who many of you know, will continue to be on point for managing the program.

On January 30 at noon (during our common time) in Tilton Hall, we invite you to a special forum for the student body to learn more about this new approach to DEIB, ask questions, and address your ideas and concerns. This is such important work and a vital aspect of your student experience, and we hope you can join us.

We look forward to seeing you on January 30 at noon. In the meantime, as always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Division of Student Success (success@clarku.edu).

Sincerely,

John Magee, Interim Provost

Kamala Kiem, Associate Provost and Dean of Students

Clark University | 950 Main Street | Worcester, MA 01610 US