Open Letter to the AUP Community from the AUP President and Provost

Dear Members of the AUP Community,

To those of us watching over the past week, as Black Americans and their allies at home and abroad have risen up to protest the killing of George Floyd—and so many Black men and women before him—at the hands of police applying repeated and systemic racist force, this moment is one in which each of us is called to solidarity and action. Our University must not only post public expressions of empathy and care; it must now deepen its examination of the very fabric of human relationships within our classrooms and clubs, across the campus, in our language and assumptions, as well as in our acts, conscious and unconscious. We will work with all students, including members of the SGA, Black and Abroad, the Diversity Club, the History, Law, and Society major, with faculty and staff, our alumni community, and our Board of Trustees to do a better job of addressing the grief we all feel, turning sadness into insight and action that will transform and strengthen our institution.

We have heard from members of our student and alumni bodies over the past week, some of them disappointed at the perceived slowness of our response. Our personal and institutional support never wavered during the first days of the protests. Institutional responses are necessarily slower than social media and require consultation with members of the community and reflection amongst ourselves if the results are to bring meaningful change.

The American University of Paris community, standing with the protesters at home and abroad, will take the following steps:

• Hold virtual meetings with student leaders to define immediate steps.
• Work with faculty, staff, and students to provide opportunities for learning and reflection, including reading groups, teach-ins, and other means of educating ourselves and having productive conversations about racism on the AUP campus.
• Review and clarify policies on non-discrimination and student grievances, such that incidents within the community may be addressed promptly and fairly.
• Commit further to diversity in AUP hiring, particularly within the faculty ranks, and express this as a goal in our next strategic plan.
• Create scholarships for Black students, as well as those from marginalized transnational communities.
• Devote the coming year to conferences/webinars on topics relevant to this historical moment, such as institutionalized racism, police brutality, and manifestations of racism in France and Europe.

For there to be more humanity in this world, and for change to be both galvanizing and lasting, we need to work together.  We look forward to beginning this conversation immediately with AUP students, faculty, staff, alumni, and members of our extended worldwide network in the hopes of creating together a more just community inside and outside The American University of Paris.

Celeste Schenck, President

William Fisher, Provost