April 7, 2025
Dear Campus Community,
Toward the end of last semester, the College committed to providing regular updates on the steps we are taking to expand bias prevention efforts, improve education and training, and build greater awareness across campus. As the semester winds to a close, I’m writing to share some of that progress. Also, at the end of the semester, we will be updating the chart on the Bias Response and Education Protocol, as we have been doing each semester.
- During the first part of the spring semester, we met with student leaders from the Black Student Union (BSU), Gettysburg African Student Association (GASA), Anti-Racist Coalition, other student leaders, student-athletes, and Greek Life, as well as with faculty, administrators, and support staff—over 80 individuals in total—to assess the types of activities and formats that would be useful to different constituencies and groups.
- From these findings, and beginning with faculty and staff, our Office of Diversity and Inclusion joined the trainings carried out by the offices of Human Resources and Title IX and completed four very-well attended presentations on the Bias Protocol to clarify the use and purpose of this research-based response system and educational tool. In addition, and as part of Human Resources’ professional development series, three separate workshops on Advancing Cross-Cultural Understandings were carried out. In all, more than 400 faculty, administrators, and support staff took part in these trainings.
- The Office of Diversity and Inclusion continues to enhance its partnership with College Life on improving responses to bias incidents, as well as policy revisions and practices. The office is planning a more robust bias awareness and bystander intervention education program for New Student Orientation, starting this fall.
- Campus Safety has been meeting with students to get feedback and further refine its policies and procedures. Campus Safety also continues its work with the Borough relating to interactions between students and Borough police.
- Two interactive workshops on advancing anti-racism on campus were held on April 5 with Kyle Williams of A Long Talk, as requested by student-athletes and other student leaders.
- The Provost’s Office and the JCCTL sponsored two faculty-led discussions, Inclusive Curricula and Promoting Inclusion and Student Belonging in Academic Departments, during the first months of the semester. Further, the trainings and faculty mentoring on inclusive pedagogy in Division 3 departments that began in 2023 continues to be led by the executive committee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) grant.
- The Provost’s Office has partnered with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to hold orientation sessions with faculty committees on bias awareness during their decision-making work and in order to better advance their charges.
- Conversations for Changeconnected with invited facilitator Jason Craige Harris from the Perception Institute, who has been carrying out a succession of four Dialogues on Race, Identity, Accountability and Repair, which began in November and will conclude this month.
- The Provost’s Office also included Craige Harris to its January Faculty Institute for a workshop on Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Dignity.
- Finally, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion continues to support and collaborate with the academic departments and Inclusion & Belonging units on a robust slate of speakers and campus-based conversations touching on a broad range of academic and current topics.
Having shared this information, we also recognized that we are not where we want to be on matters of confronting bias, discrimination, and other forms of exclusions, and in order to improve our institutional goal of engendering a “culture of belonging and wellness.”
I conclude by citing the magnificent James Baldwin in that, “not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” and that is our commitment.
Sincere thanks to all of you for helping us advance this crucial work.
Eloísa Gordon-Mora, PhD
Chief Diversity Officer