Dear Members of the Campus Community:

I am writing to express my position on the importance of maintaining an environment on campus that is safe and secure, and fosters rational and civil discourse. Our campus, like other colleges and universities in California and around the nation, has experienced tension, discord, intimidation, and intolerance that have caused concern and suffering among our students, staff, and faculty. As Chancellor, I am calling upon every member of our UCR community to work together to make our campus a place where reason and mutual respect among individuals and groups prevail in all forms of expression.

UCR has the most diverse undergraduate student body of the University of California system. We take pride in that diversity and in ourselves by using the campus environment as a place to grow and nurture students who will take their place as leaders and stewards of this complex and often conflicted world. In that vein, UCR must be a campus free of intimidation where bigotry will not be tolerated. We cannot build the community of learners and scholars that we desire if we cannot feel secure from fear and violence associated with our person, our culture, our heritage, our sexuality, our religion, or our individual life-styles.

Respect for differences and civil discourse must become the hallmark of how we live and work together to build our community of diverse learners at UCR. It is the only way for us to face those challenges that have historically silenced many in our nation and that have polarized some of our students to take positions that do not appear to be informed by reasoned discourse and a honest exchange of ideas. The University of California Riverside must stand for respect for human dignity. It must denounce acts of racism, sexism, homophobia, bigotry, anti-Semitism, or culturally intolerant behavior in any form.

There are three objectives that our campus must strive toward in order to achieve these goals. First, we must ensure that we have an environment that nurtures the intellectual and personal growth of our students, faculty and staff. Second, we must ensure that our campus sets an example of respect for all people. Third, we must ensure that our campus is a safe and welcoming environment for everyone.

A paramount responsibility for me as Chancellor is to ensure that the campus is taking steps to create the kind of climate in which communication on even the most sensitive topics can take place in an environment of open and respectful discourse. To that end, when I first came to UCR in late summer of 2002, I created the Task Force on Respect, Civility and Tolerance. The Task Force submitted its report to me this summer. The full text of the report of the Task Force is now posted on our Web site at http://www.chancellor.ucr.edu/documents/tfrct.html, and I welcome comments on the recommendations therein. Published in the report are references to current campus statements and policies that promote fairness and respect, including Principles of Community. We will endeavor to communicate these statements more widely and more frequently.

I will bring the campus together to formulate a plan that implements the recommendations of the Task Force. One recommendation whose implementation we are accelerating is promoting the use of mediation and conflict resolution as a way to express views and seek timely resolution of conflicts. A campus-wide process for conflict resolution is presently being developed, with broad campus consultation. In addition we are establishing and promoting special forums on prominent issues of concern to campus members. These forums will bring together faculty, staff and students in an informed and academic setting that encourages honest and open dialog.

Universities like ours must protect their integrity, and one of the ways that we do that is to make very public what our values and beliefs are. There is nothing more important to me as your Chancellor than providing everyone at UCR with a place that is free from bigotry, intimidation and tyranny. That is my pledge to you. But students, faculty, and staff also have a responsibility to help to create an environment of respect for differences. It is ultimately through our collective understanding of those differences that we can begin to see what we value in common.

Sincerely,

France A. Córdova
Chancellor