Letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the editorial coverage of Mustang News.
To Whom It May Concern,
On January 21st, members of SLO Solidarity met with President Jeffery Armstrong, Vice President of Student Affairs Keith Humphrey, Provost Kathleen Enz Finken, Interim Executive Director for University Diversity and Inclusivity Jean DeCosta, and other members of the President’s Executive Cabinet to discuss the Diversity and Inclusivity Action Plan released on January 7th in response to SLO Solidarity’s Demands, which were sent to the Cal Poly Administration on November 30th, 2015.
SLO Solidarity believes that the action plan released is lacking in content and accountability. More importantly, we believe it will not be enough to make progress towards our vision for a more inclusive, diverse, equitable and just Cal Poly, nor would it be enough to make progress towards President Armstrong’s Vision 2022, which calls for an “enriching, inclusive environment where every student, faculty and staff member is valued.”
In this meeting, SLO Solidarity clearly laid out what we wanted to see from an Action Plan: accountability and substance. We were told that the President’s Cabinet needed to discuss its next steps, and we gave them time to do so. Over the following weeks, members of that cabinet informed members of SLO Solidarity that a new action plan was in the works.
On February 29th, SLO Solidarity sent a follow-up email asking why a new action plan, one with more substance and accountability, had not yet been released. As of March 7th, we have not received a response to that email.
SLO Solidarity shares President Armstrong’s vision of an “enriching, inclusive environment where every student, faculty and staff member is valued.” That sounds like the sort of Cal Poly everyone wants to attend. Yet if that is to be the reality by 2022, we need to do more that the January 7th action plan lays out.
SLO Solidarity remains committed to envisioning and working towards a more diverse, inclusive and equitable Cal Poly. Sadly, without an action plan engrained with substance and accountability, the Cal Poly administration may not share our vision.