Dear CCFA Students, Faculty, Staff and Friends,

The pain, anger, frustration and loss felt first through the coronavirus and then through the unjust killings of Black individuals around the country deserve acknowledgement. As President Rudd stated in his recent email, the University of Memphis is “a place of hope, healing and healthy debate. We have an identified set of core values that embrace fairness, equity and justice, and we are committed to living those on a daily basis, particularly when they are most needed.”

Please know that, as a diverse and vibrantly engaged entity within the UofM, the College of Communication and Fine Arts stands with you and supports all of our students, faculty and staff. We believe that the lives of Black, Indigenous and People of Color matter. We believe in the need for an actively anti-racist society, and we are committed to doing the work to help get us there, both inside and outside of the classroom. These injustices are not new to the world, but right now feels like a turning point.

It is not lost on us that racial, economic, gender, sexual orientation and health issues are colliding, and many of us are facing unprecedented hardships. At the University of Memphis, we are driven by doing, and now it is time to do.

CCFA has a strong commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Over the last few years, faculty and staff have been leading and participating in a variety of workshops on race, culture, LGBTQ and other issues in order to better position ourselves to meet the challenges and opportunities in working together. We are actively preparing the continuation of these and other DEI efforts as we anticipate our fall 2020 semester. CCFA is a group of creative, intelligent individuals who can use their talents both individually and collectively to better society and offer support for those affected by the current unrest.

While we are not physically together right now, we hold our CCFA relationships in our hearts. If you have questions, need resources or want to talk with someone about what you’re going through, please reach out to a professor, member of our CCFA support staff, or email ccfa@memphis.edu and we can direct you to an appropriate colleague. CCFA values the cultivation of a diverse and inclusive culture, and we welcome your thoughts and ideas on how to continue to incorporate these values into our mission and to be held accountable for doing so.

Stay safe and well.

Kindest regards,

Anne F. Hogan, Dean
College of Communication and Fine Arts
The University of Memphis