2017 New Year's Message to Faculty
Dear Faculty:
I hope you had a restful and enjoyable holiday break.
You may recall that, toward the end of the fall semester, the Faculty Council passed a resolution expressing its collective commitment to have CUNY and Brooklyn College join what has been referred to as the "campus sanctuary movement." Shortly thereafter, Chancellor J.B. Milliken issued a statement outlining how CUNY and its constituent colleges will vigorously protect our immigrant students and their rights. You may read the chancellor's statement, as well as statements of support from government officials and the CUNY Faculty Senate, here.
In particular, Chancellor Milliken "stated unequivocally that CUNY will take any steps available under the law to protect and support its undocumented students." Brooklyn College will do the same. Especially given our important history as a place for immigrants and for the excluded, this campus will always admit and protect students regardless of race, sex, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, or citizenship status.
In the coming semester, I look forward to helping make Brooklyn College a more welcoming and inclusive community. You may recall my statement last fall entitled, "We Stand Against Hate."
Thanks to an outpouring of positive response, a group of students, staff, and faculty have developed an engaging series of events for this spring semester to enhance understanding and compassion at Brooklyn College. The goal of the series is to increase our understanding of controversial and difficult political issues, to elevate discourse around them, to enhance our compassion for one another, and to foster inclusiveness and peace on our campus. The series will feature lectures, workshops, concerts, programs, and events throughout the spring.
We will unveil the full series shortly, but I wanted to highlight that the first of these events is fast approaching! The Brooklyn College Listening Project encourages faculty to make space in their spring courses for students to interview one another and, where possible, to record stories from their peers and discover the new perspectives that careful listening creates. The Listening Project will hold a workshop for interested faculty on January 25 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room (411 Library) to discuss the art, ethics, methods, and logistics of interviewing. I encourage you to attend!
This coming semester will also mark our serious work on strategic planning for the campus, and we will share the process for that planning soon.
Finally, as you know, Governor Cuomo recently announced a proposal for free tuition at CUNY and SUNY for students whose families make between $55,000 and $125,000 a year. Many were heartened by this announcement. In his State of the State address this week, the governor called his tuition proposal part of a "middle-class recovery act." Right now, we do not have any details about the proposal (which, if approved by the legislature, may go into effect in fall 2017), so we do not yet understand how it might affect our students and enrollment, or our 2017–18 budget and programs. We hope to understand more about these possible implications once the governor issues his proposed executive budget, which should come out by next Tuesday, January 17.
I am excited to start the next semester with you on January 30, and I look forward to working closely with you to advance our mission this spring.
