But in 1943, the same year that the creed was written, prejudice and racial animus continued to plague the nation, as black and white college students in Chicago founded the Committee of Racial Equity (CORE), hispanic teenagers were attacked in the zoot suit riots, and, more grievously, Willie Lee Cooper, an African American man, became the last recorded victim of lynching in Alabama. While it is clear that our country has come a long way in its quest to be more inclusive, there is so much more work to be done. And while our nation focuses on banding together to confront and eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic, we must aggressively confront the plague of racism that for too long, has impeded our ability to fully obtain the benefits of a free and just society.

We, the Auburn community will confront racism within all aspects of university life. We will confront it in our research, as we focus on finding solutions to increase equity and eliminate disparate impacts on historically marginalized populations. We will confront it in our teaching, as we work to examine our blindspots and increase our knowledge of inclusive pedagogical strategies. And we will confront it in our service, through educational programs and initiatives that focus on the common good.

We join the chorus of voices throughout the landscape of higher education to vehemently decry all acts of racism, bigotry and intolerance and will not stand for them in our community. As a public, land grant institution whose core mission is to improve the lives of the people of Alabama, the nation, and the world, matters of inclusion, diversity and equity are essential values–and we must remain committed to them in our institutional and individual actions.

I encourage all members of our community to be a force for good, to examine their own personal biases, and to more-expressively live out the words in the Auburn Creed.

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