A Message from President Morishita: Inside East Bay, Summer 2020

I hope this summer finds each of you doing well. Head shot of President Morishita Our campus continues to innovate as we navigate the evolving impacts of COVID-19. And while many of us are still working from home, the ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ community is busy preparing for a robust Fall semester.

On June 1st, my Cabinet and I issued a message regarding the death of George Floyd and the long history of brutality and racism against African Americans and people of color. The past few weeks have seen a global response to systemic racism, producing extraordinary protests and actions. Many of our students, faculty and staff have spent the last month supporting the Black Lives Matter movement within their communities and the region. Now we have a chance to end racism if each of us takes the step together. The Office of Diversity continues to produce learning opportunities and discussions open to members of campus, complete with many educational resources and I encourage everyone to engage in this important conversation.

Recently, the Supreme Court ruled to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Thanks to those of you who have advocated strongly for the past few years on behalf of our Dreamer students, with phone calls, postcards, and rallies. We will continue working to support our Dreamers in achieving their higher education goals until a permanent solution can be found.

Parallel to the critical discussions taking place, many have been working to ensure summer programming continues, and preparation is underway to support our students this fall. 

In the coming weeks, faculty members will participate in a program through Quality Matters to improve online teaching in the fall. Quality Matters, which honored ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ last fall for the work we have already done to improve online coursework, aims to promote and improve online education. 

Meanwhile, administrators and staff are developing a plan to repopulate the campus further with training, signage and safety protocols. And many of the summer camps, such as the annual Discover Engineering! program, usually held on campus, have moved to a virtual model. 

With all of this in mind, I recognize we have a busy summer ahead. I wish you and your loved ones the best and look forward to the day when we will all return to campus. 

Go Pioneers!