President Rawlings issues statement
on African American History Month

The following is a statement to the campus community from Cornell President Hunter Rawlings:

February is African American History Month, and I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all Cornellians to join in the celebration of the many contributions African Americans have made and continue to make to this country and this campus.

We have talked a lot about diversity at Cornell over the past several years, and I want to emphasize again how important I believe diversity is to our community. Our community is built on ideas, and only through the free and open exchange of a wide range of different ideas, coming from people with different and unique backgrounds and life experiences, can we be as strong and intellectually vital as we have the potential to be.

We have made progress over the past 10 years in achieving diversity on campus. Such progress, however, is not enough. We are committed to doing everything in our power to assure that those numbers continue to grow. We are committed to providing a campus climate conducive for everyone to live, work and learn to his or her fullest potential, regardless of race or ethnicity. Moreover, we are committed to ensuring that people of all racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds feel that they and others like themselves are part of the very fabric of our community.

To that end, we reaffirm our efforts to recruit and retain African American students, faculty and staff, as well as members of other underrepresented minority groups.

Associate Provost Winnie Taylor will spearhead those efforts. Before the end of this semester, she will present a comprehensive diversity agenda that will include a plan to better educate the university about discrimination issues in general and harassment issues in particular. Further, it will clarify our affirmative action policies and obligations and strategies.

While we celebrate African American History month in February, in truth we have cause to celebrate the achievements of African Americans on this campus and across the country every day of the year. Places like Ujamaa, academic units like Cornell's Africana Studies and Research Center and events such as the Festival of Black Gospel scheduled for Feb. 20 to 22 are part of the fabric of Cornell life. We invite each and every member of the Cornell community to share in them throughout the year, as well as in the many activities that mark this special month of celebration.