Subject: [All Staff] Progress update: Upholding racial justice and equity
From: Presidents Office <[email-masked]>
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2020 10:19:47 -0700
List-Id: <allstaff.cca.edu>

Dear CCA Students, Faculty, and Staff:

As our community comes together (albeit virtually) to begin this unusual
new semester, we would like to share an update on CCA’s progress toward several
commitments <https://www.cca.edu/about/upholding-racial-justice-and-equity/>
we announced earlier this summer to advance anti-racism and address
structural inequities within our college. This week, we launched a new
webpage: Action + Accountability: CCA’s commitment to anti-racism, equity,
and social justice <https://www.cca.edu/about/action-accountability/>. On
this page, we will provide ongoing, public updates on CCA’s commitments,
actions, and progress toward making our college a place that is welcoming,
equitable, inclusive, and safe for everyone.

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder on May 25, our community, our nation,
and the world demanded a reckoning with the systemic racism that devalues
and disempowers so many members of our society. We made a commitment to
you—our CCA community—to act decisively and with urgency to identify and
implement steps that are definitive, measurable, and transparent to
confront and change the systems that perpetuate racial injustice and
inequity within our institution.

Members of the CCA community submitted more than 125 recommendations, which
the President’s Diversity Steering Committee (PDSG) compiled, categorized,
and presented to us for review (you can see a compilation of those
suggestions here
<https://portal.cca.edu/essentials/office-president/presidents-diversity-steering-group/cca-community-recommendations-racial-justice-equity-initiatives/>,
and can continue to submit recommendations
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc4xDDxKkhpWTdltW9mxvfUzx36VjqHdEVSBL3196BhlnjOLA/viewform>).
On June 30, we announced an initial list of commitments and immediate
actions CCA was taking to address some of those recommendations. The new
web page <https://www.cca.edu/about/action-accountability/> currently
provides updates on those initial commitments, and will continue to evolve
and grow as we announce and track additional initiatives and updates.

We recognize this is a small step, and acknowledge that these actions must
be the first of many. As our nation is this week confronted with yet
another police shooting of a Black American, Jacob Blake, in Kenosha,
Wisconsin, our resolve and commitment to uphold racial justice and equity
at CCA, and in our larger society, are unwavering. We thank you for holding
us accountable, and for working together to build a safe, inclusive, and
actively anti-racist CCA.

Sincerely,

Stephen Beal, President

Tammy Rae Carland, Provost