The following letter was sent to the school community on January 4, 2021.
Dear KPSOM Students, Faculty, and Staff,
The leadership team at KPSOM is committed to assuring that we will not leave the difficult moments of 2020 behind as we strive to be a continuously learning organization.
We are grateful to the students, faculty, and staff who participated in town hall meetings in December, sharing their perspectives on our need to better incorporate equity, inclusion, and diversity, and holding us accountable to the vision we all hope to achieve for KPSOM. We appreciate your authenticity and vulnerability. Though for many these meetings were intense and difficult, the comments and feedback reflected a school-wide commitment to growing and improving.
Based on these conversations and other feedback we have received, it is clear that collectively working to build out the culture that supports our vision, including our goal to become a more anti-racist organization, must be a priority moving forward. This includes further advancing equity, inclusion, and diversity efforts; establishing better processes, infrastructure, and governance; and improving communications, among other priorities. Our attached action plan is designed to guide and track these efforts. This plan is our starting point for an ongoing and intentional effort that will involve our entire community.
These initial steps to strengthen our culture and align it with the mission and values of the school are part of an ongoing process that will require continued commitment of time and resources. We believe that this commitment puts us on the path to becoming not only everything we initially set out to build, but more.
Please take a look at our plan . We will be sending out an invite shortly for an optional opportunity to discuss it. We look forward to this conversation and to hearing your feedback on how we can move this work forward.
Sincerely,
Mark Schuster, José Barral, Paul Chung, Maureen Connelly, Walter Conwell, Anne Eacker, Walter Harris, Abbas Hyderi, Michael Kanter, Carla Lupi, Beth McGlynn, Lindia Willies-Jacobo
