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Dear Sarah Lawrence Students, Staff, and Faculty,
As we prepare to return from break and begin the final seven weeks of the spring term, I wanted to follow up my letter to the campus from March 12 with an update regarding moving forward in response to a number of issues brought forward by the Diaspora Coalition during the sit-in that took place in Westlands between March 11, 2019 and March 14, 2019. The coalition presented administrators, staff, faculty, and their fellow students with a list of demands, intended to improve campus life, that identified concerns including food insecurity, curricular offerings, faculty and staff diversity, and increased institutional support for students. These concerns reflected the experiences of a group of students of color, LGBTQ+ students, international students, low-income students, and graduate students, with mindfulness toward intersectional identities.
In addition to my initial conversations with members of the coalition, Deans Trujillo and Crandall continued a dialogue during and following the sit-in and over the break. We are committed to working to address these issues with efforts over the remainder of the semester and into the future. As part of this commitment, we look forward to opening a campus-wide dialogue among students, faculty, staff, and campus committees about the College’s current efforts as well as opportunities to address issues associated with food insecurity, faculty and staff diversity, curricular inclusion, and student support when we return from break.
I also wish to share that we have engaged Dr. Kim Bobby of AGB Search to lead the searches to fill the three staff positions focused on engagement, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Bobby will be visiting campus after break as we launch the searches and I will share more information about opportunities to meet with members of the search firm, as well as the timeline and process for the searches.
Yours,
Cristle