March 5, 2020

Dear CSU Campus Community Members,

As many of you are likely aware, an open Letter to Administration was posted around campus this morning requesting a meeting with a number of CSU leaders, staff members, and faculty members for Monday, March 9 in connection with concerns about our campus culture and climate.

I am pleased to honor the students’ request to meet and know that all those who have also been invited are making every effort to join us on Monday. I look forward to an open, productive conversation about the substantive concerns that our students have raised. I also look forward to transparently sharing the facts about our efforts—in my office, in the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, in Student Affairs, and across the campus—to make CSU a place where our students feel valued and heard.

It is clear that some of our students do not feel that way right now. I know that many of us will have the opportunity to try to change that in our meeting next week. To those of you who have not been specifically invited to this meeting but who interact with our students every day, I encourage you to reach out on your own to let them all know that we hear them, we value them, and we are committed to making them feel both welcome and supported at CSU.

I will follow up with our campus community next week with more information.

Warmly,

Joyce McConnell
President