“We must all develop the behavioral commitments, ethical courage, and effective strategies to empower members of our community to combat racism.”
– President Hiram E. Chodosh
On June 18, 2020, President Hiram E. Chodosh announced CMC’s Presidential Initiative on Anti-Racism and the Black Experience in America. The Initiative was created not just to support our Black community, but to expand it. Not just to study racism, but to find effective ways to end it. President Chodosh identified the following in his 2020 letter to the community:
We learn best when we own it. This is our work, our shared responsibility.
We learn by doing. This is a learning experience.
Change is effective when centrally embedded in our daily work. This is a fully integral educational response.
What’s measured gets done. This is about outcomes.
The Initiative framed community-wide learning objectives and energized new programs and approaches, with the goal of implementing them into the daily learning and life of the College community.
As the College enters the 2024-25 academic year, we now seek to finalize the full integration of The Initiative. This includes dedicated and strategic efforts by the Dean of the Faculty’s Office, the Athenaeum, the Open Academy, the Dean of Students Office, the Office of Admission and Financial Aid, the Office of Advancement, Human Resources, the Office of Civil Rights, CMS Athletics, the Diversity Committee, and many other departments.
As we transition the substance of these efforts to each programmatic website, please learn more about the history of The Initiative and our work across campus:
Also, download our report on The Presidential Initiative: The Steps Taken – The Steps Ahead and read our Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey.