Letter to the Community
September 6, 2016
Dear Members of the Boston University Community,
Let me begin by welcoming everyone for the start of the fall semester at Boston University. The new academic year revitalizes our campus; the energy and optimism that motivate a great academic community return as our students return. As we start the new academic year, I believe we need to reflect on what has been a difficult and deeply concerning summer in our nation and our world.
The summer was punctuated by dreadful acts of violence here and abroad. We should reflect on the mass killings of innocent people at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando; the killings of citizens and police officers on this nation’s streets and of Bastille Day celebrants on the Promenade in Nice; as well as the airport bombings in Brussels and Istanbul. Continued violence and unrest in cities across America—from Minnesota and Wisconsin to Maryland—is equally troubling and highlights racial and economic fault lines in our country. We are all saddened and diminished by these various disturbing and tragic events.
As we return to our academic community in the heart of a great city, we ask what we can do individually and collectively, as a research university, to both strengthen the diversity of our academic community and better leverage our collaborations with Boston and other cities to help eliminate disparities. With this purpose in mind, I have asked that we organize two efforts this fall.
First, Dean of Students and Associate Provost Kenn Elmore and the staff of the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground will collaborate with organizations and departments to organize a series of meetings with all who are interested to discuss ways in which we can continue to strengthen the inclusiveness and diversity of our community. These will be the first of what we hope will be many programs that the Thurman Center will organize. You may recall that based on recommendations made by a task force chaired by Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore and Dean Elmore, we have committed additional resources and space so that the Thurman Center can broaden its reach and mission.
I also have asked Graham Wilson, director of the Initiative on Cities, to organize a series of meetings also open to all in our community to draw attention to research and outreach conducted by our faculty across the University—work in areas such as public health, education, public safety and policing, and sustainable economic development: work that bears directly on the great challenges I described earlier. The aim of these meetings would be to heighten awareness of these many efforts, but also to find ways to better collaborate and engage so that the transformative work that is done here can have the greatest impact.
I hope you will look for announcements about opportunities to participate in the various programs offered by both units and that you will work to help make Boston University the inclusive, engaged academic community that most effectively addresses the problems we face both in our immediate environs and around the globe.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Brown
President