Honoring Juneteenth Through Action and Institutional Commitment

Dear Cal Poly Pomona Community, 

As our campus gathered yesterday to recognize Juneteenth, we reflected on this year's theme, "Remembrance, Reckoning, and the Courage to Rise Together." Through shared conversation and reflection, we honored the significance of Juneteenth while recognizing its enduring call to action. As I shared during the program, may we continue striving to create a university where freedom, opportunity, dignity, and belonging are truly accessible to all, and may we continue rising together through community. It is in that spirit that I want to recognize the important contributions of Cal Poly Pomona's Black Thriving Initiative and reaffirm our commitment to the work ahead.

Over the past several years, the Black Thriving Initiative has helped deepen conversations about equity and belonging, strengthened our understanding of the experiences of Black students, faculty and staff and other underserved communities, and challenged us to think more intentionally about how we support student success and thriving for all.

As we look ahead, we have an opportunity to build on that progress by evolving the Black Thriving Initiative into a more fully integrated institutional approach that recognizes community and belonging as essential drivers of student success and institutional excellence. 

To support this work, the university is committing $100,000 annually over the next three years to sustain and advance capacity-building efforts, programming, and initiatives that foster community, belonging, and student success across our campus.

Juneteenth reminds us that meaningful progress requires both reflection and action. My hope is that this moment serves as a catalyst to strengthen our alignment, build on the work already underway, and advance a more cohesive and measurable pathway toward lasting institutional transformation.

Thank you for your continued commitment to our students, our colleagues, and our university community.