Black @ Furman social media account recommendations

Dear Campus Community,

As many of you may already know, the Instagram account Black @ Furman (@blackatfurmanuni) has posted many stories of racially-motivated incidents at Furman. As President and Chief Diversity Officer, we are heartbroken that even one student, faculty member, staff member, alumnus, parent or visitor to campus would endure such treatment. In response to these stories, we have received numerous communications compelling us to work harder to create a better culture at Furman.

Three specific recommendations have been offered as a way to improve the climate:

First, the form to report bias incidents should be easier to find on the website. We have changed the website to include “Report a Bias Incident” at the footer of every university webpage.  The form also appears by typing “bias incident report” into the search function of the website, and the link is available on several pages focused on diversity and inclusion.

Second, ensure that perpetrators of racist incidents face disciplinary action. The best way to ensure that perpetrators face consequences is to complete a bias incident report. Decisions regarding disciplinary action are administered by different offices depending on whether the perpetrator is a student, a staff member or a member of the faculty.  Students can face disciplinary action for “Hostile Acts Toward Others” as part of Furman’s student conduct system. Issues that involve faculty and/or staff member misconduct would be handled by our Human Resources office and/or by the Dean of Faculty. The university’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee previously created a simple form to help individuals understand their options. University Communications will work to further a strategy to ensure that the processes for addressing and consequences of perpetrating bias incidents are understood by the campus community.

Finally, ensure that those submitting a bias report will not face retaliation. University policy (as found in the 2019-2020 Student Handbook) forbids reprisal toward those submitting a grievance or participating in a grievance investigation. As part of our ongoing communication plan, we will ensure that the university community understands the consequences of retaliation.

While we have a long way to go to create a truly inclusive campus, we invite you to visit our Diversity and Inclusion website to follow our progress and to discover the resources we have for our community. Our next step as a university is to complete our strategic diversity plan, which is going through the feedback process now. This plan will serve as a guide for our ongoing and future efforts to make Furman a more inclusive campus. We will have more information to share this fall.

Only when we have a campus community that values the inherent worth of every individual will we be able to fulfill our educational promise of preparing each student for a life of purpose and consequence.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Davis                                                                       Michael Jennings

President                                                                                  Chief Diversity Officer