Dear L&S Community,
The College of Letters & Science is committed to creating an inclusive environment in which all of us - students, staff, and faculty - can thrive. Ours is a community in which we all are welcome. Most important, it is a community to which all of us feel a great sense of belonging.
There is no excellence without diversity in all its forms. To quote the late Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize recipient Toni Morrison, an extraordinary liberal arts experience is built on “encounters and collaborations among and between strangers from different neighborhoods and strangers from other lands.” We know, unequivocally, that diverse teams are more creative and successful than homogeneous ones. The questions we ask as scholars and our approaches to the “sifting and winnowing” that is the hallmark of this great university are reflections of our varied backgrounds and identities.
We are better when we are diverse and when we acknowledge, celebrate and honor our diversity. In acknowledging and honoring our diversity, we also assume a responsibility to support and stand up for each other. Let that be the Letters & Science experience. Let that be what it means to be a member of this Letters & Science community.
We are resolute in our commitment to access, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the College of Letters & Science.
Eric M. Wilcots
Dean and Mary C. Jacoby Professor of Astronomy
College of Letters & Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison