September 3, 2025

Dear UD Community,

In August, Interim President Laura Carlson wrote of our collective Becoming OneUD journey, an opportunity for us all to reflect on what defines the University of Delaware, including the values that are central to our sense of community, and the principles and goals that are foundational to our sense of purpose. Through campus town halls focused on Who We Are, How We Work, and What We Do, we will strive towards a shared understanding of the many perspectives, backgrounds, and histories that come together to make UD what it is and what it can be, the many in the OneUD.

As Interim President Carlson noted, the work of the Campus Culture and Engagement initiative is centrally linked to the community conversations she will host in the coming weeks. This work is devoted to creating a community framework that:

• centers the University’s drive towards equitable access for students, staff and faculty;
• grounds our work in the law and data; and
• acknowledges that our diverse campus culture is central to our understanding and experience of community, and that a shared sense of community is central to our success as a university.

The Campus Culture and Engagement Task Force, co-chaired by John Ernest and José-Luis Riera, will benefit from the planned Town Halls in September, and we will follow those gatherings with ongoing conversations through the rest of the semester as we prepare to draft a framework for Campus Culture and Engagement to launch at the beginning of 2026. We have created a task force representing students, faculty, and staff, including:

John Ernest (co-chair), Chair, Department of English
José-Luis Riera (co-chair), Interim Chief Campus Culture and Engagement Officer
Anu Sivaraman, Lerner College of Business
Nicole Long, Student Life
Kathy Corbitt, Human Resources
Regina Wright, College of Health Sciences 
Leann Moore, Community Engagement Initiative
Lola Sokolskiy, Student Government Association
Stephanie Kuntz-McAllister, Graduate Student Government
Meghan McInnis-Dominguez, Faculty Senate
Kate Sanford, President's Office

In addition, we are grateful to the many who have indicated that they want to be involved, and we will form faculty, staff and student focus groups, starting with and expanding from these colleagues. Throughout September, we will gather these focus groups and other existing groups and units for initial conversations, followed by Campus Culture and Engagement town halls in October and focus group meetings in November and December. We will continue to post updates on the Campus Culture and Engagement website, and you may continue to use the feedback form to share your thoughts and/or express interest in being involved if you have not already done so. Our mission this semester is to reach out to as many people as we can, and we hope to make this listening tour as broad and inclusive as possible.

At the launch of the Campus Culture and Engagement initiative, it was noted that our commitment to our shared values “should involve constant inquiry through thoughtful reflection, research and respectful dialogue in order to evolve and improve how they are lived out each and every day.” Our task force is committed to this ideal—which is not a goal to be accomplished but a process through which we should live—and we are committed to preparing a framework that will guide this process. To be successful, though, and to truly represent the UD community, we need your help, and we look forward to many community conversations in the coming months.

Sincerely,
John Ernest and José-Luis Riera