Email sent to the CBS community May 3
CBS Community,
Two weeks ago we convened a town hall to go over the recommendations of the College’s Anti-Racism Work Group. The group, which was made up of a cross-section of the CBS community, developed a robust set of high-level actions we can take to make the college a place where BIPOC students, faculty and staff feel welcome and valued. Thank you to all who have participated in one or more ways from reviewing the recommendations and submitting feedback to joining the conversation and expressing interest in advancing the actions outlined in the document.
As promised, we’ve posted a recording of the town hall online, which you can access here. I appreciate the many thoughtful questions received both through the web form and during the town hall. I’ve provided responses to some of those questions here.
These recommendations are just a starting point. It will take effort by all of us to advance this work. To do this effectively, we need to create opportunities to learn from one another. With that in mind, we will take the following steps in the near term:
As these plans take shape, please feel free to continue to submit your feedback and suggestions for how we might move this work forward at cbsdeans@umn.edu.
Best regards,
Valery Forbes
Dean, College of Biological Sciences