The Feb. 6 Board of Governors meeting streamed via YouTube. Below are Dr. Kenneth M. Mash’s comments as prepared.
Chair Shapira, Interim Chancellor Fiorentino, governors, presidents, and guests,
I want to thank Interim Chancellor Fiorentino and Brian Mbuu, the State System representatives, and my colleagues for the quick but thoughtful negotiation on the ESLP. It was done quickly but thoughtfully. And I hope we can soon reach agreement on the contractual side letters necessary, should the Board approve the programs associated with IUP’s College of Medicine.
Madam chair and governors, I want to thank you also for your actions to audit university practices with regard to the ADA. My colleagues who attended the last meeting spoke from their hearts, and they will be pleased that the Board is taking real action. I know that I appreciate the attention to the issue for the faculty, coaches, and all of the employees at our universities.
Last, I would like to thank the Board — especially given the current environment — for appointing an interim vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion and for reaffirming through that step the System’s commitment. Please notice that I did not call it DEI. Too many who use the acronym and dismiss its importance allow themselves the luxury of avoiding saying the words.
Those who oppose “DEI” should say which words they disagree with. Do they disagree with the word “diversity”? “Equity”? “Inclusion”? We understand that it is easy to demagogue the acronym and not say the words. But I want you to know that we, the faculty and coaches, will always support diversity, equity, and inclusion. We will teach it and the need for it, we will study it, and we will do our best to live according to its principles.
Academic studies support the fact that diversity, equity, and inclusion lead to better, more innovative solutions.
We respect our students. We want them to feel included. We value diversity among our colleagues and our student body. We know that people cannot understand the present without understanding the past — the real past — the good, the bad, and the ugly. And when one understands the past — and even the present — one comes to understand the need to emphasize equity and fairness.
I have personally learned so much from colleagues from different backgrounds, whether those differences be in ideology, nationality, lived experience, etc. I cannot even fathom a world in which others do not feel that they have something to learn from those who are different from themselves.
Particularly disturbing is the use of the acronym as a dog whistle meant to imply that people are automatically unqualified for their jobs, their presence in the university classroom, or on a college team, etc. It is dismissive, brutally unfair, and a dog whistle aimed directly at people who are in too many instances already vulnerable. It allows them to dismiss people without knowing them, without looking at them as individuals.
Academia, Madam Chair, is about the pursuit of truth. And while words may be banned, what cannot be halted is our faculties’ and our coaches’ — and I dare say our university administrations’ and staffs’ — drive to study and speak truth, even when it means speaking truth to power. The vast majority of my colleagues view their work not merely as a profession but as a calling. And we will not be deterred.
I beg your indulgence because I know that many if not most or all of you feel similarly, if not precisely as I do. I do not presume to look into anyone’s heart. And while you, the board, are taking the initiative to fill the position at least on an interim basis, I still think it necessary — given all that is happening — to say the words diversity, equity, and inclusion in every public forum possible.
Thank you for your attention.