RECOMMENDATION FROM:
STATEMENT OF INFORMATION:
The members of the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado are appalled by the tragic murders of Black Americans at the hands of police, which serve as a painful reminder of the systemic racism and inequality still plaguing our country. These tragedies reinforce the need to make our university a more inclusive, equitable institution of learning. Specifically, we must do more to listen and engage those who are the most marginalized and most impacted by structural and institutional racism at our university and in our communities.
We have listened to the many student groups who have raised their voices to demand change, and we affirm the voices of the Black Student Alliance, our student governance leaders, and those who support commemorating Los Seis de Boulder. We pledge to work with our students and learn from them ways to improve our community.
In this call to action, the Board of Regents adopts the following resolution:
Whereas, the Board of Regents is committed to lead by example and work collaboratively with our administration, shared governance leaders, students, faculty and staff to clearly define how we need to change our culture and institution to better support diversity, equity and inclusion;
Whereas, ensuring the safety of the living and learning environment on all of our campuses for our students, faculty, staff and visitors should be an area of deliberate and continual focus;
Whereas, how we respect each other, treat each other, and engage with each other are critical elements in creating an inclusive environment;
Whereas, our goal is transformational structural and institutional change using a transparent, collaborative, and fair process;
Whereas, now is the time for action and we commit to hold accountable the university leadership;
And whereas, the actions listed below represent important but small steps in our evolution as an institution, and we must be relentless in our pursuit of a more perfect society that lives up to the ideal that we are all equal and enjoy unalienable rights;
Therefore, be it resolved, the following actions will be taken immediately by university leadership to ensure a system that is fair, equitable, and accountable for all students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members:
1. The president and campus chancellors will assess the "use of force" policies of CU campus police and ensure the policies, practices, and procedures align with Colorado law passed during the 2020 legislative session.
2. The recently appointed working group examining CU’s relationship with Colorado Correctional Industries shall provide recommendations on the future of this business relationship.
3. The University of Colorado Foundation does not currently and shall not make any future investments in private prisons.
4. We proudly endorse CU Denver’s and the CU Anschutz Medical Campus’ pursuit of federal designation as Hispanic-Serving Institutions and request that Chancellor Michelle Marks engage the board in discussions about how to achieve this designation.
5. We direct the admissions staff and our faculty to explore alternatives to the ACT/SAT standardized tests as an entrance requirement. We encourage the state legislature and governor to rid universities of this requirement permanently.
6. The president will continue to find ways to invest the presidential initiative funds in the realms of civic education, diversity, and inclusion. We commend the president on his recent investments to expand our pre-collegiate program, fund scholarships diverse students across the CU system, fund our campuses diversity summits, conduct a pay equity analysis, hire a system-wide chief diversity officer, enhance civic education, and include diversity and inclusion as a pillar in our university’s strategic plan. .
7. We direct the president and the leadership team to undertake a review of all diversity-related training and professional development programs to determine their extent and effectiveness, and to develop new mandatory training programs for faculty and staff that focus on anti-racism and anti-bias.
8. We direct the president to form a committee of faculty, staff, students and alumni to review procedures for naming buildings and to recommend a new name for Temporary Building 1 that honors the building’s significance in CU’s own civil rights challenges. Toward that end, we expect the Los Seis Memorial to become a permanent display to serve as a reminder of this history.
PREVIOUS ACTION(S):
None.