Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

In May 2018, Provost Shennan and I formed the Task Force on Speech and Inclusion, composed of four students, four members of the faculty, and four members of the administrative staff and asked them to develop a set of recommendations for creating a campus environment that supports freedom of speech and intellectual challenge through thoughtful and respectful engagement.

Starting in August, the members of the task force worked tirelessly to develop these recommendations, which they submitted to me in late March. After careful review, I met with them to explore their recommendations and suggestions for implementation. Though we had hoped to complete this process sooner, the work proved more labor- and time-intensive than anticipated.

With apologies for the challenging timing of this communication, I’d like to share the recommendations with you so that you have the opportunity to consider them over the summer. Please use this form to offer any comments you may have. After the start of the fall semester, I’ll resend the recommendations with another opportunity for your feedback. Once they are finalized, we will begin the work of developing an implementation plan to help guide us moving forward.

I am deeply grateful to the members of the task force for their excellent and very thoughtful work and for dedicating so much time and effort to developing these recommendations. I look forward to your feedback over the summer and in the fall.

Sincerely,

Paula A. Johnson