Task Force: Message from the Chair (10/17/14)
Full Description
As Chair of the newly appointed Task Force on Preventing Sexual Assault and Harassment, I am honored to be joining a team of students, faculty, and staff colleagues from across the university who are deeply devoted to understanding this problem in all its complexity and to making meaningful recommendations to the President on what W&M can and should do to strengthen and expand our efforts in all areas – campus climate, prevention and education, training for faculty and staff, and investigation and adjudication.
We are actively following the national conversation around these and related issues, and in sub-committees aligned with the four elements of the task force charge, our work has begun in earnest. As I explained to the group at our first meeting in September, we are stepping into a fast-flowing river that W&M must navigate with skill and in real time, even as the task force moves forward with deliberate and thorough consideration of multiple issues. The university’s efforts to improve, innovate, and be responsive to the problem of sexual assault and harassment will not wait until June 30 when the Task Force completes its report for the President’s review. Rather, our report will spotlight actions taken over the course of this year and include recommendations for continued forward movement. We are working in a dynamic environment, the momentum of which inspires us at every turn to do our best work for the students who call this place home.
Our goal for this website is to keep the campus community informed of progress that is being made at W&M, both by and with the support of the President’s Task Force. You will find our meeting agendas and minutes posted here as well as the names and contact information of individual members. We also wanted to provide an easy mechanism for the community to submit comments, questions, or suggestions directly to the task force – there is a web form that makes that possible. We will be hosting several town hall meetings and panel discussions throughout the year. Please join us. Our conversation and collective efforts are critical to effecting change on our campus and beyond.
Sincerely,
Ginger Ambler ‘88, Ph.D. ‘06
Vice President for Student Affairs and Chair of the Task Force
