Community and Belonging at DU

Dear DU community, 

We hope you are enjoying your summer and looking forward to the coming academic year. As we plan for the upcoming year, we want to share an important update with you. American higher education is navigating a dynamic legal and regulatory landscape. Changes at the federal level are demanding immediate response. Most importantly, these changes require us to make decisions that keep the institution in sound legal standing—while being clear-eyed and resolute about the values which guide our institutional and educational mission. 

Anticipating this changing environment, the University held a series of “curated conversations” this past spring as part of our DU Forward planning. These conversations led to the establishment of a new steering committee charged with examining our practices, policies, and structures supporting a variety of work that helps all individuals thrive and contribute at DU. This includes considering how to better activate our tenets of belonging, inclusion, and thoughtful community. In their work, the committee will offer recommendations and engage with groups and individuals across campus. You can read the committee’s full charge here.  

We know our community is made stronger not through homogeneity, but by an abundance of perspectives, backgrounds, opinions, and ideas. As such, the committee will operate under three guiding principles: 

Inclusion for all: Each member of our community feels welcomed, valued, and empowered to contribute.  

A broad definition of diversity: Embracing the full spectrum of human difference—including race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status, age, religious or spiritual affiliation, political perspective, and lived experience.  

Pluralism and bridge-building: Fostering a culture of thoughtful engagement and dialogue among diverse perspectives, listening across differences, and mutual respect.  

The steering committee, which has been commissioned by the Office of the Chancellor, the Provost's Office, the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Human Resources and Inclusive Community, will regularly communicate with the broader DU community—including on changes or recommendations made in both the short and long term.  

We look forward to the results of this group’s work. The individuals on this committee, listed below, represent an abundance of both expertise and passion we are proud to have at DU. It is our hope that the uncertainty and challenges we face now will provide opportunities for us to create even better outcomes for our students and a stronger community for all of us.  

Please join us in expressing our sincere gratitude to those community members who are serving DU in this space. 

Sincerely, 

Jeremy Haefner, Chancellor 
Mary Clark, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor 
Elizabeth Loboa, Provost (incoming) 
Christopher Whitt, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 
Jeff Banks, Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and Inclusive Community

Steering Committee members: 

• Craig Miller, Director of Talent Acquisition and Development 
• Kristin Deal, Assistant Vice Chancellor of DEI, Partnerships and Operations 
• Lauren Hammond, Assistant Vice Chancellor of DEI, Academic Engagement 
• Eric Hartman, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer 
• Leslie Hasche, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs 
• Niki Latino, Dean of Students 
• Betty Snyder, University Ombuds 
• Detric Robinson, Director of Residential Life