From the President
Welcome to Online Fall Quarter
Sept. 21, 2020
Dear Colleagues,
I hope fall quarter is off to a good start for you. By all accounts, Virtual Welcome Day on Friday was a positive way for students to prepare for the new academic year online. It was a pleasure to drop in to many of the division meetings following the event, as you were discussing the new year and new quarter.
I want to thank you once again for joining me for College Opening Day on Friday morning, and for participating in District Opening Day activities on Thursday with distinguished guest speaker Dr. Joy DeGruy. Certainly, it is clear how much work is left to do in standing against racial injustice, from the most egregious and deliberate acts of racism and violence, to actions that are subtle, unconscious or unintentional. I look forward to continuing that work with all of you, and to the Office of Communications’ Equity Video Series, being produced in collaboration with experts across the college. For those few of you who might have missed College Opening Day, an edited recording is available on the college’s YouTube channel.
I want to reiterate two points from Friday morning:
- It is crucial that we educate our students about the importance of voting and how to obtain information on candidates and issues. The De Anza Votes and CivicsWatch webpages – linked from the college homepage – are two valuable resources. I know that many of us were deeply affected by the death on Friday of Ruth Bader Ginsburg – someone who, among her towering accomplishments including advancing women’s rights and all human rights – had much to say about voting and the right to vote. The vacuum left by her death makes clear the critical role of participating in our democracy.
- On the local front, working for the success of our students at De Anza, I'm looking forward to hearing from you via email about whether you believe the current vision statement accurately represents what the college should aspire to. That – together with the mission statement – would be the basis for the strategic planning the college will be conducting. We will follow up during this academic year.
Thank you, and once again, all the best for fall quarter.
With appreciation,
Lloyd