by President Ann Cudd
October 16, 2024
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Last year I worked with our Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion Ame Lambert to form a task force that would take a timely and urgent look at our campus environment to address tensions related to violence and war in the Middle East.
While the task was complex, our goal was simple: to ensure that PSU is a place where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and pursue their educational journey free from fear. Our engaged campus is home to many individuals who care deeply about global issues, but as a community we do not tolerate hate of any kind.
The Task Force on Building Community Through Dialogue: Fighting Antisemitism, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab Bias, chaired by former PSU President Stephen Percy, began meeting in January and concluded most of its work by the end of the academic year. Over the summer, the subcommittees submitted their reports and recommendations, which in recent weeks have been synthesized into a final report and shared with me and with the university leaders who make up the Executive Council.
Now I’m pleased to share that report more widely.
The task force recommendations span an inspiring list of initiatives that we will work to move forward. Executive sponsors have been assigned to the recommendations to ensure they move forward and those leaders will be overseeing implementation.
We’ve already delivered a new resource for understanding the importance and the guidelines that support Free Speech at PSU. I’m particularly interested in creating time and space for intergroup-dialogue initiatives. Others are digging in on creating new training opportunities and making sure that trauma informed principles and practices are integrated across campus.
One of the guiding commitments of PSU’s new strategic plan is to build a community ethos of care and well-being. Another commits us to providing equitable access to quality education. The recommendations of the task force offer tangible steps that we can take together to deliver on these commitments.