Dear members of the School of Arts and Sciences community,

Welcome to the start of the Spring 2018 semester. This semester starts with lots of change: change can be challenging but can also be an opportunity for growth and to become ever better.

As you may know for the last several months we have been awaiting the report of the independent investigation of a complaint filed against the University of Rochester. At the end of last week, the report from the independent investigation was made public. The entire report, as well as statements from the University and the Board of Trustees, can be found here: rochester.edu/independent-investigation. Just before the report of the independent investigation was released, President Seligman announced that he would resign effective February 28; his hope was that this change in leadership would allow an opportunity for healing and for a faster and more unified pace of change at the University. On Friday, the Board of Trustees announced that Richard Feldman, who was Dean of the College for more than ten years, will serve as interim president. It is important to note that President Feldman will start to work immediately to move the campus forward and to act on recommendations from the Report and from campus constituencies.

I fully embrace the recommendations made in the report and hope that we can work quickly to enact these changes and to develop other policies and practices that will make the School of Arts and Sciences and the University as a whole a more inclusive, open and receptive place to work, study, discover and grow. We need to be a place where all are respected, all are treated with dignity and where all voices are heard. I look forward to working with all of you as we move forward.

Sincerely,

Dean Gloria Culver