February 25, 2021 Community Listening Sessions: Share Your Experiences of and Perspectives on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Baruch Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students, At the core of the work we do to elevate and embed the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Baruch College is the process of institutional transformation. What is institutional transformation? It is the intentional, explorative, and collective community action to reaffirm our values, culture, and behaviors—leading to substantive change in policy, process, and practice in regard to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The College’s senior leadership is committed to this work—over the course of the last year, we have launched new initiatives and coordinated new efforts to cultivate a welcoming environment and culture at Baruch. The Presidential Advisory Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, charged to advise the College leadership, is launching a new initiative this spring to provide members of the campus community with an opportunity to share their experiences at Baruch College through the lens of DEI. For this purpose, more than 40 Listening Sessions are organized to take place during the month of March—to engage the voices and experiences of the College’s diverse stakeholders. I hope that you will take this opportunity to participate in this important community engagement activity. The findings of these Listening Sessions will help inform decisions, policies, processes, and structural changes that will contribute to intentional and meaningful institutional transformation. In my February blog, I talk about the importance of sharing stories and changing hearts, and I encourage you to share your own stories in these Listening Sessions. Listening Sessions start this coming Monday, March 1. To learn more and to participate, please visit the Listening Sessions website. Sincerely, S. David Wu President, Baruch College |