MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT: Commitment to change

Dear America:

Here we are again. Trying to make sense of a senseless killing of a human being by those humans who have sworn to protect us all. Or, so we thought. We hear admonitions about “One bad actor” and “Not all cops are bad.” At the same time, we hear “Stop looting” and “How can you destroy local businesses that serve you?” We have been here before, repeatedly, throughout U.S. history. Our solutions have been to soothe the immediate pain of loss … to quiet the voices screaming for transformative change … to “Band-aid” the human wound and hope that it heals quickly, all to get back to the “right normal.” Clearly, our past solutions have not worked well enough, because here we are again.

As president of UH-Clear Lake, I extend my university’s heartfelt empathy for the mind-numbing loss of Mr. George Floyd, a native Houstonian, loved by family and friends, in more than one U.S. state. Our sadness is part of the wave of grief felt around the world, with all grievers hoping that we do better this time. Yes, we are still hopeful. However, as the past has taught us, hope alone is not the answer. Even so, hope can fuel the real actions we take to transform our collective future, to develop our collective humanity. One impactful key for that transformation is what we do in our space: higher education.

While UH-Clear Lake’s community knows that we do not hold the whole solution for transformation, we do know the question we must ask ourselves to contribute to that solution: What are we at UH-Clear Lake committed to doing to effect the needed meaningful change? A group of our university leaders have reflected on their roles and identified our first actions toward that needed transformation. All are committed to subsequent actions continuing to be developed, inclusive of both internal and external stakeholders, through our strategic planning process, which continues this fall. Here are our first steps.

We start where we should: in the classroom. UH-Clear Lake’s Faculty will facilitate students’ continued development of critical thinking skills and honing of their ability to ask critical questions with a focus on creating an inclusive community and ultimately positively impacting larger structures of inequality. Moreover, the Faculty Senate will work with The Center for Faculty Development to host workshops to help train faculty to have difficult discussions around race, inequality, intolerance, prejudice, injustice, and more in the ways that these concepts intersect with their discipline or curriculum. We don’t know what we don’t know about the most important part in society:  each other.

To support our faculty, the provost will establish the new Center for Engagement, Teaching and Learning in fall 2020. The Center will ensure that technology, pedagogy and faculty research build the intellectual fulcrum to sustain the exploration of the diversity of human experience through a purposeful transdisciplinary lens.

The Vice President for Student Affairs commits to expanding his division’s focus on developing strong, informed citizens who: (1) are obligated to exercise the right to vote; and (2) are prepared to lead in crisis and as servants through a re-designed leadership program.

The Vice President for Administration and Finance commits to resource investment for those actions that will advance UH-Clear Lake’s contribution to the development of competent, confident, caring individuals, and to assist with the development of metrics to monitor the university’s effectiveness. In addition, the university will add a one-credit financial literacy course, tuition waived, and with successful completion, students will earn a $500 one-time scholarship for the subsequent semester. Proven strategies to support student knowledge and understanding of how to navigate the complicated world of financing their education are available.

Lastly, the Vice President for University Advancement commits to engage accomplished UH-Clear Lake alumni of color to serve as role models of success for students through career shadowing and internships. In addition, development officers will secure resources to make a UH-Clear Lake education more affordable to those traditionally underrepresented in higher education.

All of higher education has shared responsibility for taking positive actions to effect the longed-for transformation. I urge all leaders in higher education to maximize the transformative potential of their institutional spaces. Higher education can lead our nation’s way to establishing the lasting paradigm for our collective humanity. Together, we can replace the cycle of “Here we are again” with “Together, we made it happen.”

Sincerely,

Ira K. Blake, Ph.D.
President