Dear UC Berkeley Colleagues and Friends:
I am writing to you today to ask for your help over the coming months with an historic effort for the UC Berkeley campus. A five to 10-year initiative for progress on diversity, equity, and inclusion campus-wide has begun with the launch of a strategic planning phase to set specific goals, objectives and resources. This initiative, to be headed by Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion Gibor Basri, will focus on creating the sustainable, institutional change necessary to embrace the core values and practices of our University encouraged by the Regents in the UC Statement on Diversity.
The institutional change envisioned by this initiative will serve the mission of the University; enrich the experience of all of our students, staff, and faculty, help to insure that UC Berkeley maintains its standard of excellence, and continues to fulfill its great public trust to the people of California far into the future.
A Data-Driven, Collective Planning Effort
Earlier this year, I was delighted to learn that the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund agreed to fund this planning phase. From the beginning, we recognized that any major effort designed to enhance equity and inclusion at Cal must 1) be shaped by an objective, data-based understanding of our campus; and 2) will require strong collaboration, and robust dialogue among all spheres of the University community—students, staff, faculty, alumni—if it is to succeed.
Addressing the first of these imperatives, the planning process includes conducting a data-driven study of programs, policies, and practices that foster diversity, equity, and inclusion both on the Berkeley campus and on other campuses across the nation.
With respect to the second imperative, Vice Chancellor Basri and I will be tapping the wisdom, experience, expertise, and creativity of our students, staff, faculty, and alumni to accomplish both the above study and to develop a broad-based community engagement through various means. These means include:
As one of the first steps in gathering needed campus community input, I invite you to attend one of the following Participatory Town Hall meetings:
To sign-up for these meetings, please send your name, your campus department and title or your major or college/school, and your contact information to a staff member in the office of equity & inclusion. Reservations will be required to attend as seating is limited. If you have any requests for assistance for these meetings, please also state this in your reservation email. More town hall meetings will be scheduled in the coming months.
As the strategic planning process develops, there will be additional opportunities to provide feedback on the initiative's short-term and long-term goals, proposed next steps, and key priorities, as well as on the planning process itself.
A First Step – What You Can Do to Help Now
The vice chancellor and I also invite you to continue your visit of the Equity & Inclusion website. After clicking the link "Interactive Forum", you will be able both to offer comments to the vice chancellor to assist in the strategic planning process and make suggestions for creating dialogue in your communities about these issues. This site will also contain information about the planning process in general.
I view this strategic planning effort on diversity, equity, and inclusion as a vital step towards UC Berkeley's bright future, and look forward to working with you on this challenging and groundbreaking effort.
Sincerely,
Robert J. Birgeneau
Chancellor
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