Dear Colleagues,
These last weeks have been painful and disturbing for all of us, most especially for Black members of our community, a community who has been disproportionately affected by police violence and brutality, and by illness and death associated with COVID-19.
The intersection of the pandemic with continued violence against the Black community—especially the recent killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery—has only further confirmed the stark inequities in our society. None of us can stay silent. Those of us who, like myself, are white, need to recognize that we have benefitted from racialized privilege. When any of us, regardless of our racial identity, fail to speak and to act in the face of anti-Black racism, we contribute to injustice and continuing violence.
We need to listen and learn from each other. Acknowledging racism, and working to change our society to fully embrace our differences—to see each other fully—takes work and commitment. And that work should not fall disproportionately on communities of color, on our Black community, or our Black colleagues, but on the rest of us.
As a campus and VCUE community, we have been engaged in this work but we need to invest more in it. I am committed to working with VCUE and the campus leadership team to examine our institutional practices and develop an actionable plan. We need to support each other as we do this. To that end, the VCUE Equity, Implementation and Diversity Implementation Team will be hosting an initial community conversation in the coming weeks. Please look for another announcement soon with more details.
This is an overwhelming time for everyone. I hope you will avail yourselves of the resources the campus and the broader community has to offer. We encourage you all to commit to at least 1-2 actions you will take starting now.
- Anti-Racist Actions, Learning, and Engagement Resources curated by the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
- Here are more anti-racism resources that are widely being circulated
- For free, confidential support and counseling, contact the Employee Assistance Program
If you have questions, resources to share, or would like to be involved in helping organize a community conversation for VCUE, please email vcue@berkeley.edu.
Again, in this moment please acknowledge each other and take care of yourselves. Along with the VCUE leadership team, I encourage you to take time to process these issues and offer support for your colleagues' needs as well.
Sincerely,
Cathy Koshland
Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education
