Open Letter Response
November, 13, 2020.
On August 10, 2020 a group of current students, alumni and allies posted a public Open Letter to the School of Architecture and Interior Design (dear.andrewsarchitecture.com). Below you can read our response and written commitment.
Dear students and alumni of the School of Architecture & Interior Design, The Division of Architecture, The School of Architecture, and The School of Architecture, Art and Design.
You are deeply loved and valued by us. You are the reason we exist as a school, and we think of you as part of our world-wide family. Your voices of concern, as expressed in the recent Open Letter to the School, are heard. We apologize for actions, or lack thereof, that have caused any of our minority students or alumni to experience exclusion, suppression, dismissal, or denial. For any one person to have been treated unfairly is one too many. It is our duty to listen and to continue to become better listeners. Our School must always be a safe environment that values and uplifts the voices of those who have been hurt or marginalized. Your voices matter, and we desire to hear and understand them. Please know that we are committed to building avenues for freer and more open communication.
It is difficult to read the stories shared and to know that our school has caused pain. We especially regret to not have addressed the experiences brought to our attention, prior to the Open Letter. In an effort to become more aware and empathetic to situations our minority students experience routinely, we will seek guidance and counsel from outside experts in cultural sensitivities, and to build a roundtable of openness and transparency in partnership with current students, alumni, faculty, and university leaders.
In an effort to improve our teaching, we recognize that we have much to learn from our students and alumni. We affirm that “the Lord Jesus demands our acknowledgement of the rights of every man [every person]. Men’s [every person’s] social right, and their rights as Christians, are to be taken into consideration. All are to be treated with refinement and delicacy, as the sons and daughters of God.” (Ellen G. White, MH489.3). The Open Letter and its stories must be considered with Christian care and seriousness. It is clear that there is a need for greater intentionality in our work, and we will seek assistance in fostering a more inclusive environment.
We are deeply humbled by the stories that share accolades, love, and caring for the faculty and our school – much greater praise than we deserve. We trust that the authors of the Open Letter strive to improve our school out of love. The diversity of our school has been a frequent point of pride, but our journey to live up to it has fallen short. By the open letter, we now recognize this, and acknowledge our obligation to actively and continuously build a more lasting and sustainable system of principles and practices that treasure everyone– especially those who are systemically underrepresented and/or marginalized in our school, the university, the country, and our world.
We seek your help in this; we are in need of a formal, detailed, and published strategic plan that holds us collectively accountable on these issues. This strategic planning process, which will begin immediately, and its resulting document will affirm our commitments and shape our next steps as follows:
1. The School of Architecture & Interior Design, with guidance from the Council for Diversity and Inclusion, will do the following:
a. Seek to diversify our faculty and staff in order to assure that students better see themselves reflected in the leadership of the school, and that their education reflects our globally diverse environment, better preparing our students to serve meaningfully around the world when they graduate. We will post new job openings in different venues to ensure a diverse pool of applicants are aware and have the opportunity to apply.
b. Evaluate and revise our curriculum to fully reflect new NAAB Conditions for Accreditation, and educate our students about, diversity and inclusion.
c. Encourage and support students who are interested in creating local chapters of minority professional organizations. (e.g. NOMAS, etc.)
d. Collaborate with the University initiatives to strengthen its grievance process that allows students and employees to seek resolution, by directly reporting injustice and mistreatment of all kinds to the university bias incident response team.
2. The School of Architecture & Interior Design will immediately begin the process of activating an Advisory Council that will provide recommendations to the School and University leadership to help the School live out its mission more fully. This council will help with all aspects of our school and it may recommend additional steps to ensure we have a diverse and inclusive program.
3. We will develop and maintain a framework that helps to ensure continuous diversity, equity, inclusion, and empowerment, as guided by the aforementioned Advisory Council and the Andrews University Office for Diversity & Inclusion.
4. The School of Architecture & Interior Design will establish documentation and benchmarks in its operations and policies, as guided by the aforementioned Advisory Council and the Andrews University Office for Diversity & Inclusion.
By God’s grace, this process will make our School stronger than before, benefitting future students and future alumni. We believe and pray that this is the beginning of an open conversation where we will together find processes that better serve all of our students, alumni, and our School of Architecture & Interior Design.
Sincerely,
Ariel Solis, Chairman School of Architecture & Interior Design