[HHH-STU-PERSONAL-L] From the Desk of the Dean - Equity and Inclusion at the Humphrey School
August 18, 2020
Dear Humphrey School Community Members:
As we prepare to launch the 2020-2021 academic year many of you are asking some version of these questions: What specifically is the Humphrey School doing to advance equity, diversity and inclusion principles? To be actively anti-racist? To ensure social equity in our research, curriculum and community engagement? One honest response is that we are not doing enough. As a University and as a public policy and planning school we have a long way to go to achieve the level of diversity, equity and social justice reflected in our School’s mission and guiding principles.
At the same time, to build a strong Humphrey School learning community actively focused on justice, we need to have a clear sense of where we stand now and draw motivation from both our shortcomings and the significant progress we have made toward advancing our equity and inclusion plan. To that end, this email offers context and a brief summary of schoolwide diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives under development or currently in place. This message also offers some preliminary start-of-the-academic year recommendations for things we all can do right now to advance this work.
Situating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in School Policy and Practice
Ideally, the goal of ensuring an equitable and just learning environment should be everyone’s everyday business. To be done effectively, it must be baked into everything we do. Organizational change of this sort cannot be left to the good will of individuals alone. We need effective structures, policies and accountability measures designed to help us advance toward our ideals. At the Humphrey School, we are guided by our community-developed HHH Equity and Inclusion Strategy Implementation Plan. This plan includes working definitions of key terms and outlines how the School annually sets diversity, equity and inclusion objectives in seven key areas:
School climate
Communications
Community Engagement
Curriculum
Recruitment and retention of faculty and staff
Recruitment and retention of students
Research
Starting this academic year, the School’s elected Executive Council will have responsibility for ensuring objectives are reviewed and updated (as per guidelines included in the plan) and that accountability reports/data are compiled at the end of each academic year. The Executive Council is the main deliberative body within the School, so shifting DEI monitoring and accountability responsibilities to this group centers this as a core priority within the Humphrey School.
Our Shared Commitment to Achieving an Equitable and Inclusive Learning Community
Our Equity and Inclusion plan articulates key commitments for the Humphrey School:
Sharing responsibility for building, maintaining, and improving an inclusive school climate to increase appreciation of and respect for diverse backgrounds, as well as multiple and intersectional identities;
Establishing organizational structures that support inclusive decision-making across the School
Recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty, staff and student body;
Fostering a respectful and equitable learning environment for all Humphrey students, staff, and faculty members.
Key to these commitments is the recognition that no single approach covers all that is required to achieve an equitable and diverse learning community. The challenges we confront are diverse and, in many cases, longstanding. We need to take action in multiple ways on multiple fronts, with a steady appreciation for how a thriving school of public affairs encompasses and depends on diversity of thought, perspective, experience, and belief. These forms of diversity are essential to a vibrant learning community and should guide our pursuit of a more just and equitable School at every step along the way.
Humphrey Courses Specifically Focused on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Our curriculum is central to what we do and how we engage with students. To that end, we’re including here a list of newly developed and recurring courses that specifically reflect students’ requests for broadened exploration of race, equity and social justice in our courses.
Recurring Courses focused on Equity and Diversity-Fall 2020
PA 5490 (Sec 2) The Politics and Policy of Demographic Change - “The Graying and Browning of America” (Audrey Dorelien) - 3 credits
PA 5281 Immigrants and Cities (Ryan Allen) - 3 credits
PA 5622 Gender and Intersectional Network Series (GAINS) I (Christina Ewig)
PA 8312 Analysis of Discrimination (Samuel Myers)
New courses for Fall 2020
PA 5290 (Sec 3) / PA 8290 City of White Supremacy (Ed Goetz, Rashad Williams) - 3 credits
PA 5920 (Sec 4) Tribal-State Relations Workshop (Joseph Bauerkemper, Tadd Johnson) - 0.5 credits
Recurring Courses focused on Equity and Diversity-Spring 2021
PA 5426 Research and Policy with Marginalized Groups (Christina Melander)
PA 5622 Gender and Intersectional Network Series (GAINS) II (Christina Ewig)
New courses for Spring 2021
PA 5022 (Sec 1) Applications of Economics for Policy Analysis: Economic Stratification (Samuel Myers) - 2 credits
PA 5683/8683 Gender, Race, and Political Representation (Christina Ewig) - 3 credits
PA 5920 Tribal-State Relations Workshop (Joseph Bauerkemper, Tadd Johnson) - 0.5 credits
Yet-to-be-named course on Reparations (Rashad Williams) - title and credits TBD
Potential new courses currently in the design phase
Yet-to-be-named course on Communities and Public Safety
Yet-to-be-named course on Restorative Practices
Yet-to-be-named course on Equity Lens Strategies and Techniques
Additionally, over the coming year, the Humphrey School teaching and learning team, along with our schoolwide curriculum committee will continue to review and propose revisions to core, elective and capstone courses, with a focus on our equity principles. This approach includes an examination of assigned course readings and case studies, guest speakers and student learning objectives. We are also re-examining policies related to paying guest speakers and visiting practitioners, most especially individuals from less well-resourced community organizations who add so much insight and depth to classroom learning environments, but whose engagement with us falls outside of the specific work for which they are otherwise compensated. We are currently researching policies and procedures at peer institutions and other UMN departments for guidance on this effort.
Equity and Inclusion Engagement at HHH: Six things you can do as we launch the year
Mark your calendar now and watch for an upcoming invite to participate in the schoolwide kick-off event of the Equity and Inclusion Council over the noon hour on Wednesday, September 23rd. This is your opportunity to help shape the priorities that will guide our shared work over the coming year. Thereafter, watch for EIC-hosted gatherings and discussions throughout the year. Better yet, work with the EIC to help plan them! These are great opportunities to engage with HHH faculty, staff and students together.
Watch this short video clip of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi talking about his book How to be an Anti-Racist, then look for a forthcoming announcement and invitation to attend the Humphrey School’s 2020 Distinguished Carlson Lecture with Dr. Ibram Kendi the evening of Wednesday, September 30th. Mark your calendar now and watch for the registration link in early September. We expect this event to fill up quickly once the announcement is released.
Get to know your student, faculty,and staff representatives on the Humphrey School Equity and Inclusion Council (co-chaired this year by Joel Mixon and Joe Soss) and Executive Council (chaired this year by Brian Gjerde). Make these individuals aware of ideas, issues and recommendations you have about our equity and inclusion work.
Monitor the School’s Equity and Inclusion web page. Revisions to our plan will be posted by early October; and updates will be posted regularly to this site. Share your feedback and insights.
Be a part of our efforts to learn together. Register for workshops and consider completing the Certificate program offered through the University of MInnesota’s Office for Equity and Diversity. These workshops and the entire certificate program are free of charge and available to all UMN students, staff and faculty.
Finally, please stay tuned for more information about Humphrey-affiliated social equity research initiatives, engagement opportunities and community-based partnerships.
What's next?
Our lives, separately and together, have changed substantially since we celebrated commencement early last May. While we continue to navigate a global pandemic and a deep economic recession that disproportionately harms BIPOC communities; we also are challenged to think critically about the impact of George Floyd’s murder, the role of policing and public safety in America, the persistence of what our own Dr. Myers has described as the Minnesota Paradox, and the significance of the passing of Civil Rights icons like Representative John Lewis.
Ideally, our individual and collective actions this academic year will reflect the imperative of public affairs schools to analyze and improve the structures, policies and institutions that can oppress or liberate us. As Dr. Kendi argues: “we have long been trained to see the deficiencies of people rather than policy. It's a pretty easy mistake to make: People are in our faces. Policies are distant. We are particularly poor at seeing the policies lurking behind the struggles of people.”
Out of the pain and loss and frustration of this summer, the Humphrey School of Public Affairs has the opportunity to build a deeper commitment to anti-racism, to listen to each other with open minds and hearts, to stir innovation and to ignite change. Let’s get to work.
Kind Regards,
Laura Bloomberg
Dean, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
[HHH-STUDENTS-L] A public response to letter regarding Humphrey School relationship with Freeman family
July 29, 2020
Dear Humphrey School Community Members:
Two weeks ago we (Dean Laura Bloomberg, Associate Dean Carissa Slotterback and incoming Associate Dean Catherine Squires) received a petition letter calling on the Humphrey School to “show uncompromising institutional support for racial justice by critically reevaluating and transforming our relationship with Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and the Freeman family”.
Specifically, the letter outlined 4 requests:
1. Remove Mike Freeman from the Humphrey School Dean’s Advisory Council.
2. Rename the Orville and Jane Freeman Commons.
3. Share records of all current and historical financial ties between the Freeman family and the Humphrey School.
4. Establish a fund to be used for
The hiring of tenure track faculty in accordance to the Humphrey School’s commitment to “recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty”
Curriculum development focused on the intersection of critical race theory and public policy
Anti-racism training for Humphrey faculty, staff, and students
We are writing today to respond directly to these requests and outline steps the School is currently and will soon be taking to address many of the concerns summarized in the full letter. We want to share our thanks as well for the important work that the letter writers and signers are doing within the School and the broader community to advance critical equity and justice priorities.
As we considered the petition letter, we focused our attention on the Humphrey School's mission and our Equity and Inclusion Strategy Plan. Our mission reminds us of the importance of being attentive to diversity of perspective and how our changing world should shape and reshape our decision making as a School. Our Equity and Inclusion Strategy Plan insists that we approach equity, inclusion, diversity, and anti-racism as the work of all of us. These are priorities that must be advanced across all functions of the School. While we have made progress in implementing our plan, we also see ways that this work can be further institutionalized. We can be more accountable to stakeholders, and more engaged across the students, staff, faculty, alumni, and partners connected to the Humphrey School. We approach this expansive view of this work with the understanding that we must work harder than ever before. The imperative of being actively anti-racist must entail real change and real action. We must critically review and challenge our organizational structures, our funding priorities and our decision making strategies through an equity and inclusion lens if we are to live up to the principles we have publicly committed to:
Sharing responsibility for building, maintaining, and improving an inclusive school climate to increase appreciation of and respect for diverse backgrounds, as well as multiple and intersectional identities;
Establishing organizational structures that support inclusive decision-making across the School
Recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty, staff and student body;
Fostering a respectful and equitable learning environment for all Humphrey students, staff, and faculty members.
With this background as context, our message today addresses the specific requests we received related to the Freeman family.
Petition request #1: Remove Mike Freeman from the Humphrey School Dean’s Advisory Council.
Over the past two years we have reviewed and updated the bylaws guiding the Humphrey School’s Deans Advisory Council in an effort to ensure ongoing vitality and renewal of the council. By making these changes we’ve built into the structure of the council itself opportunities to regularly refresh this advisory group and bring in community partners who are dedicated to the school’s mission, who bring multi-sector expertise from a wide range of philosophical and political perspectives, who are eager to help us expand support for the school and who help us achieve greater gender, racial and sectoral diversity on the council. The updated bylaws now ensure that council members have term limits and that those term limits are followed. The bylaws further charge a nominating committee with making recommendations for new council membership. This year’s nominating committee will begin meeting in early August to review and make recommendations to refresh the council following the departure of several current members, including Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, who will reach the end of his term and will be cycling off the council at the end of this academic year.
When we started this structured renewal process in late 2018 15% of our members were people of color. Today 18% are people of color. This is a start, but we agree with the Advisory Council’s nominating committee that we should be seeking a greater level of racial diversity on the council and a higher percentage of BIPOC council members across public, private and nonprofit sectors. This remains a priority for the council and for us. We would welcome recommendations from anyone in the Humphrey School community, especially students, on nominees to consider for council membership. As per the bylaws, the PASA president is a standing member of the Advisory Council and could bring those recommendations forward.
Petition request #2: Rename the Orville and Jane Freeman Commons.
The petition letter requested that the School rename the Orville and Jane Freeman Commons because of the role then Governor Orville Freeman played in destroying the Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul with the construction of two Interstate Highways. Interstate Highways 94 and 35 quite literally tore the community apart. St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood was at the center of a vibrant Black community in the Twin Cities up until the time the freeway was constructed through the heart of it. It is a tragic, painful, and woefully under-examined chapter of Minnesota’s history.
The petition letter included this excerpt from a speech delivered by Governor Freeman about the construction of Interstate 94 (note that the Minnesota Historical Society has made this entire speech available. Here’s the link):
"I want you to know that this highway program has been planned giving every possible consideration to the people whose lives are disrupted. You know, in a democracy, sometimes all of us must give way to the benefit of the majority and if a highway runs through your property, why you of course have to give way to the majority will.”
While we are aware of the sense of urgency in the petition letter, the question of how and where the School engages with history is consequential and calls for careful deliberation among a broad range of stakeholders. The Humphrey School serves both students and alums; it is both the home of both academic degree programs and a public-serving institution for community-based research and engagement; it is the decades-long workplace of dozens of staff and faculty. As such, deliberation about our spaces should engage our internal and external communities, similar to the approach we took when establishing the Josie R Johnson Community Room for Social Justice or the Joan and Walter Monday Commons. Deliberation must include to the extent possible individuals most directly impacted by the actors, actions or policy decisions in question. In this case, BIPOC individuals living in Rondo during the time of the interstate expansion, or their descendants.
In this spirit of inclusive deliberation we have asked the Humphrey School’s Equity and Inclusion Council (EIC) to lead a review and discovery process to guide us on key questions related to the petitioners’ request to rename Freeman Commons. Specifically, the EIC is charged with engaging and consulting a broad group of stakeholders to consider the following questions, and others that may arise from their deliberations:
1. What was the gubernatorial role and authority in the I94/I35 policy process (vis a vis, for example, the Federal Highway Administration, City of St. Paul, etc)? What was the extent of the governor’s authority in the policies enabling the routing and placement of these Interstate Highways? The group might also wish to explore the work of Freeman as Secretary of Agriculture or other actions he took as Governor, although it is our understanding that the petitioners argue Freeman’s specific role in the I94 and I35 development through Rondo supersedes other considerations of his legacy.
2. The Humphrey School space in question is named the Orville and Jane Freeman Commons. What was the role of Jane Freeman in the policy concerns identified in the petition letter? Are there other factors of relevance when considering the Humphrey School’s relationship to the life and legacy of Jane Freeman?
3. Beyond any specific decisions about naming or renaming of spaces at the Humphrey School, how might we best use spaces within the building to tell the story of Rondo specifically, and shine a brighter light on past policy decisions that have caused harm to BIPOC communities? We use visuals, art and media throughout the building to convey historic public affairs moments, events and people. How might we refresh this collection in key areas such that it supports our social justice and race equity principles and goals? How might our spaces convey a more actively anti-racist message?
In exploring these questions, the EIC may wish to engage community partners who have significant knowledge of---and a significant stake in—both the story of Rondo as well as the Humphrey School. Many Humphrey alums as well as advisory council members would be eager to participate in this dialogue.
Additionally, incoming Associate Dean Catherine Squires has deep knowledge of the Rondo neighborhood history and extensive experience working with organizations located in and serving the community, including the Hallie Q Brown Center and Gordon Parks High School.
Petition request #3: Share records of all current and historical financial ties between the Freeman family and the Humphrey School.
1. The Humphrey School has an endowed fund to support the Freeman Faculty Chair in International Trade and Investment Policy. The endowment was established to honor Orville Freeman’s contributions to trade and global economic development during his tenure as Secretary of Agriculture in the Kennedy Administration. This endowment is used to fund the salary and benefits of the faculty member who holds that chair. This position was most recently held by Professor Robert Kudrle, who retired in spring 2020. Given the current UMN hiring freeze, there is no active search for the next Freeman Chair. We anticipate launching a national/global search for the Freeman Chair within the next 1-3 years.
2. Following the death of Jane Freeman in 2018 the Freeman family and supporters contributed funds to establish the Humphrey School’s Jane C. Freeman Rural Policy Fellowship. The fellowship supports paid internships for students who seek to learn more about and work in rural development policy and practice settings, experiencing first-hand the unique challenges and opportunities of community and economic development in rural areas. The fellowship will also explore the social and economic interdependence between metro and rural communities. During 2020, funds from this fellowship have supported Humphrey School students in summer assistantships coordinated through the Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, which promotes collaboration between Greater Minnesota communities with the UMN on local sustainability projects.
3. Between 2000-2016 Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman taught the Humphrey School course PA5122: Law and Public Policy every other year. When he did teach this course, Freeman was paid at the same rate as all other adjunct instructors. Since 2016 Freeman is no longer on the School’s roster to teach this class.
Petition Request #4. Establish a fund to be used for
· The hiring of tenure track faculty in accordance to the Humphrey School’s commitment to “recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty”
· Curriculum development focused on the intersection of critical race theory and public policy
· Anti-racism training for Humphrey faculty, staff, and students
This is essential—and an area where we have been heavily focused in recent weeks. Clearly, we must align the School’s financial resources with the equity and inclusion priorities we espouse. Although we will go into more detail in a forthcoming update on the status of the School’s current and planned equity and inclusion initiatives, here are a few details:
1. In addition to the vacant Freeman Faculty Chair (discussed above), with the departure of Professor James Ron we also have vacant the endowed Stassen Chair for International Affairs. I am eager to engage with global policy scholars and the broader School community to lay the groundwork now for launching broad, intentionally inclusive and effective endowed chair faculty searches that yield a racially diverse pool of talented candidates for these vitally important positions. The actions we take and the signals we send today will impact the quality of the actual search we’ll be able to launch once the hiring ban is lifted and we have the resources to officially market these positions.
2. We are offering new courses this year including Tribal-State Relations and City of White Supremacy. More courses are under development, including a course focused on reparations. One core focus of our equity and inclusion planning this year will be on applying an equity lens to curriculum design, development and course planning priorities.
3. We are allocating funds specifically to support equity and inclusion priorities in the near term, including funding for visiting scholar/practitioner positions, professional development opportunities, guest speakers and curricular innovations in partnership with community organizations founded and led by people of color.
In closing, we're grateful for the opportunity to respond to this petition letter. As Carissa Slotterback prepares to depart the Humphrey School and Catherine Squires prepares to transition into her role as our next associate dean, we’re eager to engage with the full school community on next steps to advance the mission and vision of the Humphrey School.
Kind Regards,
Laura and Carissa
Correspondence between the Dean and the Petition Working Group
We believe that conversations about white supremacy and the fight for racial equity on campus should be transparent and democratic.
In that spirit, we are sharing here a public record of the correspondence between the petition working group and Dean Bloomberg. This record is provided because we realize our working group doesn't represent all students, and we want to be accountable to the entire student body. We don't want to broker 'back room deals', but rather to facilitate conversation between all students and people in institutional power at our school.
For a summary of key points, view the Petition Updates page.
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August 19, 2020
I have heard from all the AC sub-group members and they are all fine with the meeting being recorded. I'll just wait to hear from you on timing, purpose statement, etc.. and then we'll get this scheduled.
Laura
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August 18, 2020
Hi all:
Just wanted to circle back and let you know I'm still waiting to hear from everyone in the AC sub group. I want affirmation ahead of time that all the members who suggested a meeting will agree to the discussion being recorded. So far I've heard from one individual who has no problem with this, so am optimistic the rest will feel the same. I'm fine with it.
I also think we should establish some ground rules. For instance, I think the students should speak first and not open it to dialogue until you've had a chance to say all that you want to say at the outset. Does that mean all 8 students speak, or a designated subset? I imagine my role is to listen although I'm happy to assume a co-moderator role with a member of the student task force if you'd like. We should limit the time AC members speak, although I think they will each want to respond (and very likely affirm) what you have to say.
In terms of agreeing on a clear purpose for the meeting, I suggest we draw on this statement from your email to me:
.....we hope that the conversation will provide an opportunity for both the attending members of the Council and yourself to gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives of those who crafted and/or signed the petition. In addition to the members of the advisory council who expressed an interest in meeting with us, we think it would be beneficial to all parties if you were in attendance, as well.
Would you be amenable to adding a statement about students also gaining a deeper understanding of the perspectives of Advisory Council members? It would thus read something like this;
The purpose of this conversation is to provide an opportunity for both the attending members of the Advisory Council and the Dean to gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives of those who crafted and/or signed the Freeman petition letter. The students who drafted the petition will also have the opportunity to hear the perspectives of Advisory Council members.
I expect finding a time that works for everyone will be a bit of a challenge. If all of you could possibly suggest a range of viable times of the day or days of the week, that may be a good place to start. Once I have confirmation from AC members and some proposed scheduling options from all of you I"ll ask my colleague Tonisha White to get this scheduled. She can always give one of you zoom hosting rights if you prefer.
Sound like a plan?
Laura Bloomberg, PhD
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August 14, 2020
Greetings Dean Bloomberg,
Thank you for taking the time to clarify the scope of this conversation; we understand the nature of the advisory council is not to make decisions! That being said, we hope that the conversation will provide an opportunity for both the attending members of the Council and yourself to gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives of those who crafted and/or signed the petition. In addition to the members of the advisory council who expressed an interest in meeting with us, we think it would be beneficial to all parties if you were in attendance, as well.
This conversation is an opportunity to discuss all aspects of the petition, and we look forward to engaging with each of you. We especially look forward to the opportunity to “put on our policy hats” and discuss potential solutions to systemic racism which exist within our societal institutions and within the Humphrey School itself. We hope this conversation will be enlightening about the perspectives of all participants.
After a discussion with the members of the petition working group, we feel that it is necessary to give the broader Humphrey community an opportunity to witness this dialogue. As such, we will be recording this meeting via the Zoom record function. We are happy to share the completed video file with you and anyone within the administration, including members of the advisory council. We understand that you need some time to circle back to those members to gauge their level of willingness to be recorded. We are happy to meet with you and any others who are comfortable with that arrangement!
Regarding connecting with the EIC, our group would love the opportunity to engage with them in further exploring the work and legacies of both Orville and Jane Freeman. Please do put us in contact with Joe Soss, and we would be more than happy to follow up with him.
Many thanks,
Petition Working Group Members
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August 11, 2020
Hi all:
Thanks for getting back to me and apologies for the delayed reply--I was off line for a few days.
I think the request to record the conversation may work although I'd like to circle back to individuals from the advisory council group to make sure that is OK with them. Regardless of where we land on this specific meeting request, I totally agree with you on the transparency points. We must ensure the openness and transparency of any deliberative processes launched this fall semester (as per my response letter). In fact, I've got a meeting scheduled with Equity and Inclusion Council co-chair professor Joe Soss this afternoon to discuss how best to approach this. I imagine he will want to engage directly with this petition working group on mapping out engagement strategies as well as the students who are always appointed to the School's EIC (including representatives from HSOCA, HISA, GSPEC, PASA, HAHAW).
Back to the Advisory Council....I want to be really clear about this so we don't approach a possible meeting with different expectations: First, please know that the input of the Dean's Advisory Council is certainly helpful to me on a number of issues, but it is by no means dispositive in decision making in this situation or any other. They are fully advisory and not a decision making body. That said, our Council members have remarkable perspectives based on a wide range of lived experiences, ideological backgrounds and professional histories. I personally benefit greatly from listening to what they have to say, even when I disagree with them. I believe the small group that is most eager to meet with you is honestly interested in understanding your thinking and approach to the petition. Some may disagree; some may agree. I do not believe they want to meet with you based on their opinions about the petition--but because they believe they have perspectives that could deepen and enrich the dialogue based on their background and experience. I know for sure that they do not want to argue with you or endeavor to change your mind. They are eager and open to learn and they are eager to share with you their perspectives on topics like these:
Rondo (at least two small group members grew up in Rondo pre-freeway),
Council membership (at least one BIPOC small group member has concerns that removing a member from the Council before their term expires would set a precedent that could cause unintended harm and have a chilling effect on ensuring diverse council members going forward; others may not share that view);
Status of police criminal cases, how they are evolving and what policies they hope Humphrey students/alums will focus on to ensure lasting change (at least one small group member is a judge who has tried similar criminal cases).
One small group member is an African American private sector executive who has young adult children very active in advocacy around police reform and anti-racism work. She has perspectives on seeking generational common ground--and a strong desire to learn from all of you.
I do not expect that the conversation will lead us to any decisions, but I do believe that the conversation could be enriching for everyone.
So....if this sounds OK to you, especially the conversation/listening/no decision making part, then I'll check in with these AC members to get their OK on recording the conversation. I wanted to clarify because I don't want you to feel like this is a waste of your time. I certainly do not think it would be.
Regards,
Laura
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August 6, 2020
Greetings Dean Bloomberg!
As stated in our previous email, we welcome the opportunity to engage in a community conversation with members of the Dean’s Advisory Council. As such, we would be happy to have a meeting with this subgroup.
While we agree a smaller group of participants may yield a better dialogue, our working group is cognizant of the fact that we are not the only stakeholders in this conversation. As such, we request that this meeting be made public, either by recording the meeting so that it can be later distributed to all stakeholders, or by live broadcasting this meeting via a platform which all stakeholders can access. Members of the working group would be happy to facilitate this effort to increase the transparency of this process and to increase stakeholder engagement.
With that said, we appreciate the opportunity to speak to the subgroup and engage in meaningful discussions about the merits of the petition, as well as the concerns of this subgroup.
Be well, stay healthy, and we look forward to this discussion,
Petition Working Group Members
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August 3, 2020
Dear Freeman petition working group members:
I'm writing in regards to scheduling a follow-up conversation with a subgroup of the Dean's Advisory Council. Although, as I mentioned in my response to the petition, our HHH Equity and Inclusion Council will be planning for larger schoolwide discussions once the semester is underway, I believe it would be helpful for a smaller group of advisory council members and student petitioners to meet in the coming weeks to listen to each others' perspectives on the requests outlined in the petition. Ideally this would be a group small enough so that all would have opportunities to be heard and to listen to each participant. My suggestion would be that this meeting should be with the seven members of the petition working group (Avram, Tegan, David, Kate, Ben, Njoya, Bailey). I imagine we'd have 4-6 advisory group members for a total of no more than about 12 in an hour or 90 minute long conversation. I believe council members would welcome the opportunity to both learn more about your recommendations in the petition and your concerns about the Freeman family; they would also like an opportunity to speak with you about their views of advisory council membership and the role of the Freeman family with respect to the Humphrey School.
Please let me know if you're interested in participating in such a discussion.
Laura
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July 24, 2020
Greetings Dean Bloomberg,
We appreciate your prompt response to our email and petition. We also look forward to working with you to advance necessary anti-racism work at the Humphrey School. To keep you abreast of our next steps:
We feel it is important that our work together be transparent. As such, we will be sharing your initial reply with the community of students, alumni and staff who are part of this work. Please know that we will be sharing future communications we receive from the Humphrey Administration and yourself in order to best facilitate this continued dialogue with supporting students, staff, and alumni.
So that we can best update supporters of this petition, we’d ask you to please provide a specific date by which we all can expect your response to the petition letter.
In our petition we stated a date of August 15 for the Humphrey Administration to announce the formation of a working group empowered to rename the Commons. Because August 15 is quickly approaching, we would like to know what particular steps are being taken toward the formation of this group? If none are being taken, what alternative courses of action are being proposed?
In your Town Hall for returning students on July 16th, you shared with us that there are members of the community who conveyed concern about Mike Freeman’s removal from the Dean’s Advisory Council; you expressed a commitment to coordinate a meeting between these community members and the petition signers. We agree that this would be a helpful conversation, and ask that you help us schedule and promote this meeting to current students and alumni. We would like to have this conversation by the end of the month, and are happy to help with logistics and facilitation to make this happen.
Be well, stay healthy, and we look forward to your reply,
Petition Working Group Members
Avram Scarlett
Tegan Lecheler
David Gottfried
Kate Ingersoll
Benjamin Yawakie
Njoya Chomilo
Bailey Sutter
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July 16, 2020
All:
I'm writing to acknowledge receipt of your letter. You have clearly put a lot of thought into this message and it deserves an equally considered reply from me. I will respond to the letter in detail as soon as I am able to consider carefully your recommendations, articulate clear intentions and outline a concrete proposed plan for moving forward. I expect to be able to do this by the end of July or very early in August.
I recognize and value the impressive effort it took to prepare this letter and secure a substantial base of support for it. In doing so you play a significant role in changing the University and the Humphrey School in important and consequential ways. I look forward to engaging with you on the continuing equity, inclusion and social justice work that needs to happen at the Humphrey School and the University of Minnesota.
Kind Regards,
Laura
__________________
Laura Bloomberg, PhD
Professor and Dean
Humphrey School of Public Affairs
University of Minnesota
301 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
email: bloom004@umn.edu
phone: 612.625.0608
The Petition Delivery
July 15, 2020
From: PASA
To: Dean Bloomberg and Associate Dean Slotterback
On behalf of the student body, the Public Affairs Student Association (PASA) presents the attached statement and list of demands -- signed by over 350 current and former students, faculty, and community members -- to the Humphrey School.
We offer this petition in support of BIPOC students, in allyship with Black Lives Matter, and in the spirit of living and embodying the values of our school's mission and vision. We ask you to engage the student body in an honest, transparent, urgent conversation, beginning with a public response to each of the petition's asks by next Wednesday, July 22nd.
Sincerely,
The Public Affairs Student Association
JT Kruger, President
Caroline Ketcham, Vice President
Paul Daniels, Treasurer
Erica Blevins, Social Chair
Bailey Sutter, Secretary
Lisa Rau, Curriculum Officer
Gary Ly, Master of Development Practice Representative
Vanesa Mercado Diaz, Master of Human Rights Representative
Bridget Siljander, Interim Master of Public Administration Representative
Sarah Ritten, Master of Public Policy Representative
Lindsey Krause, Master of Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy Representative Sophie Blumenstock, Master of Urban and Regional Planning Representative
Kim Napoline, Professional Student Government Representative
Humphrey Students of Color Association
Humphrey Students for Accountability
Avram Scarlett, Petition Working Group Member
Tegan Lecheler, Petition Working Group Member
David Gottfried, Petition Working Group Member
Kate Ingersoll, Petition Working Group Member
Benjamin Yawakie, Petition Working Group Member
Njoya Chomilo, Petition Working Group Member
Bailey Sutter, Petition Working Group Member