The Daily’s story last Friday about the Office of Undergraduate Admission was a very difficult story to read. I have spent my entire career committed to diversity, broadly defined. So it was challenging to read the comments of a litigant and anonymous individuals painting a picture of our office that I do not recognize and that I find deeply concerning.
I find the conclusions of the story imbalanced and misleading. However, I believe the issues are important to our organization and are important for me to address.
Advancing diversity across multiple dimensions, in a manner consistent with the requirements of the law, is central to the work of our office. We are committed to diversity in the perspectives, experiences and backgrounds of our staff, just as we are for the applicants we review, admit, enroll and support. I also am concerned for the quality of every staff member’s experience, and I have always been open, as is our senior staff, to hearing concerns about individuals’ work experiences.
Unfortunately, I am not permitted to comment on the lawsuit by the former admissions officer that is currently pending other than to say that the university is vigorously defending against it and we believe we will prevail. However, the wellbeing of our staff and the climate of our organization are deeply important to me. First, I am conferring with senior university leadership to develop a climate assessment of our office to be conducted over the next several months. Second, based on the findings of that assessment, I am committed to education, workshops, facilitated interactions and other resources, including for our leadership team. I am also committed to the revitalization of our DEI working group.
I hope and trust that the actions we will be taking in the period ahead will support each of our staff members individually, and will support our overall organization, as we continue working to extend opportunity to the next generation of students.
Richard H. Shaw is the dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid.