Dear Members of the Campus Community,

I am deeply saddened by reports of several incidents on campus since the beginning of the semester that have involved vandalism in the form of written harassment that is anti-Semitic in nature—including writing found in a library carrel today. These acts are unacceptable and an affront to our entire university community, are in violation of the university’s discrimination and harassment policy, and are being addressed and investigated through our established policies and protocols.

In various meetings, speeches, conversations, and campuswide messages I have affirmed, and will continue to affirm, Puget Sound’s commitment to becoming a fully welcoming and inclusive campus community. I wish to express my deep appreciation to everyone across campus who works with commitment and diligence to realize this vision, and support and advocate for members of our community across our wide and varied expressions of gender, faith, race, political interests, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and more. The coming together of different identities, ideas, and experiences is at the heart of our mission as a liberal arts college.

We come together to learn with and from each other. Our work is education, and education is ongoing—not only for each successive generation of students, but for our faculty and staff members as well. This is why we have a Diversity Strategic Plan to guide our efforts, and numerous offices, programs, and organizations devoted to the work of equity and inclusion. This is why we require harassment prevention training and conduct regular campus climate surveys. This is why we have a policy prohibiting discrimination and harassment. This is why we have Harassment Reporting Officers to receive complaints and a Bias-Hate Education Response Team to identify areas of concern and coordinate educational responses. And this is why we have codes of conduct to which all members of the campus community are held accountable.

To all members of this campus community, please know this is your campus home. We are here to affirm and support you. Please take advantage of the resources in place to assist you in reporting and acting on your concerns. Working together, we will make not only our community a better, safer, and more respectful place, but the broader communities in which we play a part.

Isiaah
Isiaah Crawford, Ph.D. | President