President Amott's Thoughts on the Closing of the Year

Dear Knox Community:

One of the most important reasons I came to Knox four years ago was that I admired the passion and vibrancy of the Knox students, faculty, and staff -- Knox is full of people who care deeply about what they learn, what they teach, how they live, and how they interact with others. I imagine this passion is why many of you decided to pursue your education here, or to teach here, or to work here. And it's why the events centered around social injustice that are playing out here on campus, as well as on the national stage, affect so many of us profoundly. Although we are not always in agreement about the way forward, we feel anger, hurt, grief and disappointment that the promise of the 21st century is yet unrealized.

Over the last year, I have seen our students, faculty, alumni and staff demand that attention be paid to gaps between our values and our actions. We take pride in the College's historic mission of access, yet many of our students don't have enough resources to take advantage of all the opportunities Knox offers. We introduce the promise of Knox as One Community during new student orientation, yet that community often splinters once orientation gives way to daily life on campus. We know that not every student, faculty, or staff member feels that they are heard, respected, and safe at Knox.

We must all work together to close this gap between our rhetoric and the lived experience of every member of our community. I am committed to working with the campus community to make the necessary changes in Knox culture and practices, and I invite every member of our community to join in the effort to make Knox a better place -- each of your perspectives and experiences will add much to the work we're already doing and that which lies ahead.

Some efforts are already under way to address issues of diversity and inclusivity -- the introduction of Intergroup Dialogue to campus and its formalization in the curriculum, the addition of a new counselor and sexual assault advocate in the Health and Counseling Center, the commitments outlined in the Knox 2018 strategic plan. Yet I recognize that these changes are piecemeal in nature -- we at Knox have yet to create a comprehensive response that connects the dots between the individual experiences of members of our campus community. And I regret the fact that our efforts for change have not been more comprehensive, more timely, and more systematic.

The College will soon close for the holiday break. As you return to campus in January, you will have a number of opportunities to engage with the College community around these important issues. I encourage each of you to join the community conversations and open forums to ensure that your experiences and voice are heard as we work to make Knox a truly inclusive community. These conversations will help us identify the practices and programs needed to move from talk to action.

Earlier this fall, the College engaged a national leader in campus diversity and inclusion, Dr. Alma Clayton-Pederson, senior scholar at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), to partner with us in a comprehensive effort to bring diversity into the core of all we do at Knox and to truly live Knox's mission and values. Dr. Pederson visited the campus over the December break to meet with the President's Council and both past and present members of the Campus Diversity Committee. She will return again in winter term to meet directly with additional faculty, staff, and students and, again, in February to meet with the Board of Trustees.

Additionally, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Convocation on January 19 will be dedicated to the recent events in Ferguson, New York, and other cities around the country. Administrators, faculty, the Center for Intercultural Life, student clubs and organizations, including ABLE, Union Board, and the Student Senate Diversity Committee, have all worked over the past few months on identifying additional ways to engage the campus in conversation and education. For example, ABLE is sponsoring a series of discussions and fireside chats throughout the months of January and February concerning diversity and inclusivity, and in early February, Union Board is sponsoring the showing of the recent movie Dear White People, followed by a question and answer session. (More information and additional events will be shared via e-mail and on the Knox events calendar in January.) I encourage all of us to attend these events and actively participate in these important discussions so that we can inform ourselves as members of the Knox community and as agents of wider change.

I wish each of you joyful holidays and a peaceful new year and look forward to January, when we reconvene once again as a community and work together to live up to our values and ideals as a nation and as a college.

Sincerely,

Teresa