Welcome!

President Speaks Out on Racism, Statements from Campus Leaders

 Resources to address racial injustice

¡Bienvenidos!

From the Chief Diversity Officer 

As we promised in June, Sonoma State is redoubling our work to dismantle systemic racism, inequality, and discrimination, and foster reconciliation, healing, and social justice. With our country at so many crossroads, we recognize this moment as an opportunity to continue the momentum toward recognition and reckoning for centuries of injustice based on race or ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and immigration status.

Public higher education remains one of the most powerful engines of social mobility, innovative problem-solving, and economic opportunity, and we all have a role to play in its success. As a learning community, Sonoma State has a responsibility to campus and community, a mandate to educate, engage, and inspire – to be thought leaders and change agents on behalf of the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion we cherish. This work will continue to align with our strategic plan and strategic priorities of student success, academic excellence, leadership cultivation, and transformative impact.

With that in mind, we invite you to explore and engage with this space, which is not just a repository of resources and programs, but a dynamic digital environment that, like the work itself, will evolve over time. Here you will find updates on new and ongoing initiatives; links to relevant scholarship and information; announcements of campus events and programs; a list of campus and community-affiliated resources; and a directory of relevant campus offices and contacts. We hope that you will review, share, and utilize this space in ways that support your own work, and look forward to more conversations about how we can best continue in our shared stewardship of social progress and community strength.

With gratitude,

Jerlena Griffin-Desta
Jerlena Griffin-Desta, Ph.D. (She/Her/Hers)
Chief of Staff to the President/Vice President for Strategic Initiatives & Diversity