Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,
In recent weeks, as protesters gathered to mourn lives lost and condemn all forms of racism and oppression, particularly against Black citizens at the hands of police, the Hamilton community worked to exchange resources, recommit to change, and hold space to process the pain of these deaths. While students witness the impact on their own cities and neighborhoods, they also want to know what Hamilton is doing for racial justice and to support Black Lives Matter initiatives.
My focus as dean of students and chief diversity officer is to build a community where every student knows that they are safe, included, and respected. This cannot be accomplished without consistent effort from every member of faculty and staff, as well as students and their families. Last summer, I facilitated a discussion with the College’s senior staff to reaffirm Hamilton’s overarching diversity goals, which include:
Increasing recruitment and retention of historically underrepresented faculty, staff, and students
Fostering an inclusive climate
Developing culturally competent faculty, staff, and students
Since that time, we have:
Enhanced outreach to targeted markets to diversify our admission pool
Hired 16 new tenure-track faculty since 2018; 10 (62.5%) are women and eight (50%) are people of color (Overall, the tenure-line faculty is now 23% diverse and 47.2% women.)
Increased training for staff, students, and faculty members to guard against implicit bias (in interviewing, programming, teaching, and daily interactions)
Worked to remove financial barriers to achieve an equivalent educational experience inside and outside the classroom for all students
Piloted an initiative that trains student facilitators to develop skills in deep listening and engaging in deliberative conversations
Conversations around racism did not begin with recent events, and there is ongoing dialogue campuswide about how we can continue and deepen this work. Our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are how we put ideas into action, with facilitated training, policy review, and cross-campus collaborations to address these issues. Our senior staff retreat this summer will build on past efforts and lay out actions for the coming year.
I appreciate your support and engagement as we work toward a just and inclusive campus experience for all students, faculty, and staff.
Please take care of yourself and each other,
Terry Martinez
Chief Diversity Officer
Vice President and Dean of Students