Dear Colleagues:
The fall semester is nearly here, and I can feel our community’s excitement and anticipation growing with each passing day.
You have all worked incredibly hard over the past year, keeping our offices running and university moving forward during an extremely challenging time. We have heard loud and clear from students and faculty that they deeply appreciated the kind and compassionate service you continued to provide through the pandemic. As the semester begins, I hope we continue extending this same kindness and compassion as we work with students, faculty, and each other. We want to nurture our culture of empathy.
It is also very important to remember to be kind to yourself. As staff, you have been working long and hard hours over the past year, and now you are preparing to welcome our entire community back to campus. Our transition back to campus and an in-person academic year inevitably will present some challenges for all of us, and I encourage you to make use of staff resources available on the Human Resources website to help make your transition as smooth as possible.
Finally, it is vital that we reinforce our commitment to welcoming all members of our community and fostering a diverse and inclusive environment in our classrooms, programs, and all areas of GW. This past year highlighted our nation’s ongoing struggle with systemic racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of discrimination, complicated even further by feelings of frustration and isolation due to the pandemic. As we return to a traditional in-person-experience, we must ensure that we continue to work together to provide space and support for each other as we fight for justice and accountability.
I look forward to what I know will be a productive and enjoyable fall semester.
Sincerely,
Christopher Alan Bracey
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs