Whereas:

Systemic racism at Bucknell creates an unwelcome and hostile environment for members of underrepresented communities. This environment compromises the ability of the University to educate its students. The racial slurs and hate-speech broadcast on WVBU are only the most recent reminder that Bucknell is not an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment. Black and Latino/a students, in particular, consistently experience hostile and unwelcome classroom and social environments. Students, faculty, and staff of color regularly encounter racist attitudes, comments, and aggressions on campus and in town.

Be It Resolved That:

We the faculty strongly oppose racism in all its forms and commit to working deliberately and collectively to create a more respectful, inclusive, and just campus climate with respect to race within our classrooms, throughout the university, and in the broader community. Progress will occur only with significant structural changes, including in student and faculty/staff recruitment, as well as in curricula, co-curricula, and other dimensions of student life that illuminate the historical contexts and present-day realities of racism. Effecting change should not be the burden of the people who are the targets of racism; it requires action on the part of those who occupy positions of institutional power.

Meaningful progress requires collective action on the part of students, staff, administrators, and faculty. We call upon ourselves as faculty to plan and execute specific actions aimed at improving the campus climate and reducing racism. We as a faculty pledge to support individuals who choose to move these agendas forward. Additionally, the faculty call upon the President’s Diversity Council to report on the state of the Bucknell University 2014-19 Diversity Plan, to seek greater critical engagement and participation from faculty, and to resource and execute the evolving plan in a systematic and expeditious manner. We the faculty pledge to recommit ourselves with urgency to addressing the presence and manifestations of racism at Bucknell University.