Dear members of the CU-Boulder community,
Next week will see the campus celebrate the , to be hosted in the University Memorial Center on Nov. 11 and 12. I want to extend a personal invitation to each member of the campus community to attend this important two-day event. This summit raises awareness on the need for our campus to continually transform itself to become more diverse, more welcoming and more inclusive of individuals, communities and ideas.
We are proud to co-host the Diversity and Inclusion Summit with our partners at the City of Boulder and Boulder County. Many of their employees will be joining with us for informative discussions, seminars and learning opportunities centered on the theme of 鈥淏uilding the Road Map.鈥�
We undertake this dialogue in the long shadow of history. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education that desegregated American schools, the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the 40th anniversary of the watershed Keyes decision that desegregated Denver鈥檚 Public Schools.
As a public school teacher and education professor, my entire career was shaped directly by these landmark decisions. As a person, I was influenced by men and women from a variety of cultural backgrounds who were enfranchised and empowered by these legal victories.
Today, at CU-Boulder, we face the challenge of forging student success within the most diverse community that CU-Boulder has ever experienced, and of continuing to improve our climate on campus so that the members of our community can take full advantage of our resources and fully maximize their potential. In this effort, we have much work to do together, and events such as the Diversity and Inclusion Summit help us to construct roadmaps to success and pathways to understanding and embracing one another as full and empowered members of the community.
We have some incredible speakers this year such as Carlotta Walls LaNier, who at age 14 was the youngest of the 鈥淟ittle Rock Nine鈥� 鈥� the group of courageous African-American students who integrated Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 and touched the conscience of our nation. Come hear our own Kate Fagan, who starred on the CU women鈥檚 basketball team before becoming a journalist and author chronicling her experience as a gay student-athlete and the challenges of coming out to teammates and friends. CU-Boulder Professor Daryl Maeda of our department of Ethnic Studies will talk about the influence of martial arts icon Bruce Lee in confronting racism and challenging racial stereotypes and cultural barriers. For more information and a schedule of events, .
Our potential is only as great as the strength of our diversity, and the measure of our community is felt in the broadest extent of our inclusion. Join me at the Diversity and Inclusion Summit so that we can continue the important journey of reaching our full potential.
Thank you.
Philip P. DiStefano, chancellor