Dear Campus Community,
Welcome to the new academic year. I hope you had an enjoyable, restful, and productive summer. Last week I had the pleasure of welcoming 425 first-year, transfer, and visiting students and new faculty and staff members who came to Lawrence from across the country and around the globe. As we begin the fall term, I want to provide some updates on work from the summer as well as initiatives you can anticipate this year as we look to provide a more welcoming, collaborative, and safe learning environment for all.
Katie Kodat, provost and dean of the faculty, and Chris Card, vice president for student life, look forward to continuing the work they began last year with faculty, staff, and student members of the Emotional Well-Being Task Force. Plans are underway for several “town hall” meetings during fall term to share insights and invite community discussion of strategies to increase creativity, balance, and rejuvenation, and reduce stress and anxiety.
Kimberly Barrett, vice president for diversity and inclusion, and our Office of Research Administration are completing their analysis of last year’s campus climate survey. Dr. Barrett will present findings during two Campus Climate Town Hall meetings on September 20 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and September 25 from 7 to 8:30 pm. Both will be held in the Warch Campus Center Cinema. These meetings will provide students, faculty, staff, and alumni opportunities to learn about survey results, ask questions and begin to formulate strategies to address needs identified by the data. We hope you will make time to attend one of these sessions to help shape the next steps Lawrence will take to ensure the university is a place where everyone has a voice, feels they belong, and can reach their unique potential.
Summer is always a time of renewal for our campus facilities. We completed a remodel of public spaces in Ormsby Hall, including bathrooms and kitchen, and put the final touches on updates in Sage Hall. Memorial Chapel has received LED stage lighting as well as a number of other improvements to reduce its use of energy resources. You will discover an expanded Kate’s Corner Store on the 2nd floor of the Warch Campus Center, which will now include a new line of LU apparel. Brokaw Hall received an exterior update. Changes to the interior of Brokaw Hall are exciting too. We are in the early stages of updates to the Registrar, Financial Aid and Financial Services areas, developing new spaces that support processes to integrate and further automate the services provided by those offices.
The beginning of the new year is a time for all of us to recommit to creating a campus environment free of sexual harassment and assault. Please become familiar with our updated SHARE (Sexual Harassment and Assault Resources & Education) website. We have also updated our faculty and staff policies which can be found in the new employee handbook here. I want to thank the students, faculty, and staff who have worked together to improve our policies, procedures, and resources. With your help, reporting incidents of sexual misconduct has increased. SHARE will host a community town hall on October 4th from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center Cinema to discuss the results of our latest student survey on sexual misconduct, answer questions about our process, and provide an update on the Department of Education’s proposed regulation changes. Finally, we are about to launch a national search for a full-time Title IX coordinator. Please visit the SHARE site for updates on progress.
I hope to see you at Matriculation Convocation this Thursday, September 13 at 11:10 a.m. in Memorial Chapel. This year I will address the ongoing debate about immigration and refugee resettlement with a talk entitled “Standing with the Statue of Liberty.” I eagerly anticipate future conversation about this and other pressing topics that face this campus, this nation, and our world.
We are embarking on a new academic year together, recreating our learning community here in Appleton, London and Björklunden. Central to this effort is recognizing our shared humanity, respecting the right of all Lawrentians to engage critically with ideas, and celebrating the differences that enrich our educational environment and our world. Lawrence is a special place because of the many people of myriad backgrounds and perspectives who live, learn, and work here. I am grateful to be among you.
I look forward to seeing you at Matriculation Convocation if not sooner.
Yours,
Mark