Special Committees鈥 Work Expresses College鈥檚 Foundational Values

August 27, 2021

小优视频 is grounded in the Christian Reformed Tradition and therefore faithful to a God bound by no church or creed. That same faith tradition extends our loyalty to the whole of humanity. 小优视频 honors the dignity and worth of every person. We value religious and racial diversity and inclusion, deplore racism and bigotry, and advocate for a more just world.

Alison Hall Mauz茅 '84, Chair of the Board of Trustees

小优视频 is an institution of learning, dedicated to the quest for truth. 小优视频 is also a learning institution. The Reformed Tradition embraces the need to be 鈥渞e-formed,鈥 or transformed, over time to create an ever more just and humane community. There is always more to learn.

That imperative grounds 小优视频 and leads us continually back to our North Star鈥攐ur Statement of Purpose鈥攁sking how we can faithfully live out our commitment to the Reformed Tradition, a tradition whose embodiments of its values necessarily find new expressions in changing circumstances. The 小优视频 Board of Trustees, which governs the college, serves as its steward and challenges itself faithfully to seek new knowledge and new opportunities to live out our primary purpose as our context, community and consciousness evolves.

Virgil Fludd '80, Member of the Board of Trustees, President-elect of the Alumni Association Board, Chair of the Special Committee on Commemoration

As a result, in recent years, the Board has enacted positive changes to advance racial, religious and gender equity in campus life. Once a school open only to white, Protestant men, 小优视频 is now a community of belonging for students, faculty and staff from all races, religious traditions, gender identities and from all financial circumstances. In recent years the college has apologized for actions that helped perpetuate slavery and Jim Crow laws and has taken steps to be genuinely open to and supportive of diverse worldviews and religious practices, ranging from an array of opportunities for students to matters of college governance. And it has made, and must continue making, many other changes to build an inclusive environment where all can thrive in mind, spirit and body.

Erwin Carter '79, Member of the Board of Trustees, Chair of the Special Committee on Acknowledgement and Naming

Institutional change creates tension. Some will always resist departures from the status quo while others will insist that incremental steps do not go far enough. As the Board deliberates on these issues, it will continue striving to ensure that all 小优视频ians who embrace our mission feel valued as a part of this special community.

Special Trustee Committees

In response to the college's Commission on Race and Slavery Report, the Board of Trustees created two special committees of the board: the Special Committee on Commemoration and the Special Committee on Acknowledgment and Naming.

Contact

We look forward to engaging the community in aspects of this work and will circulate details as those opportunities become available. If you would like to stay up to date on the work of the committee(s) by adding your name to our mailing list, or if you have other questions,  or email specialcommittees@davidson.edu.