Task Force on Building Community Through Dialogue

In January 2024, President Ann Cudd launched the Task Force on Building Community Through Dialogue and Fighting Antisemitism, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab Bias to help PSU’s diverse community find ways to live with our multiple experiences, realities and positionalities and constructively engage with and talk about them even when we don’t agree. The primary goal of the task force was not to seek out common ground but to find a way to empathize with the pain and suffering of those whose lives are affected by current events and see each others’ common humanity.

How We Worked

When President Cudd announced the formation of a presidential task force, she invited all members of the campus community to participate, thereby utilizing a volunteer methodology to construct the group.

About 70 members of the community — including faculty, staff and students — responded with an interest in participation. President Cudd also recruited key leaders in administrative and staff positions with expertise in areas such as campus climate, health services and public safety. Task force members had the opportunity to participate in committees or serve as at-large members on the full task force as their time and interests permitted.

Areas of focus

President Cudd identified four key focal areas for attention based on national guidance for combating hate and the Time to Act framework. These focal areas became the pillars of the task force work:

Violence Prevention and Response
Ensuring that all members of the campus community are physically safe and free from violence and fear.
Climate and Psychological Safety
Promoting a campus climate that provides emotional and psychological support to members of the campus community who are experiencing pain, fear and instability in their lives.
Intergroup Dialogue and Engagement
Forging new opportunities for learning across cultures, faiths, identities and experiences.
Academic Freedom and Title VI
Ensuring academic freedom while also safeguarding students’ civil rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In response to the urgency of the current context, members of the first two committees began their work immediately. The remaining committees embraced a longer-term strategy with their work continuing through spring term.

Guiding Values and Mission

PSU is committed to learning about ourselves as well as about others within our diverse, urban-serving institution. We are working to embrace our majority BIPOC future and be a destination for minoritized communities, which means we will be a place that supports the thriving of all people and communities.

We are resolute in our commitment to work for justice and equity through deeper understanding and engagement. There might not be anything we can do or say to alter global conflicts, but we can build the community we desire here at home by rejecting intolerance and co-creating an environment where peace and the pursuit of knowledge can thrive.

PSU values inclusion, academic freedom, robust academic discourse and free speech. Sometimes these values can seem to be in tension with one another, especially during times of increased violence, discrimination and war. PSU has resources for students who are seeking assistance or experiencing bias incidents.

Presidential Task Force Report

The Task Force completed its recommendations during the summer of 2024 and shared its final report with President Cudd. The report contains recommendations to improve the campus climate from carving out more spaces on campus for dialogue to providing more training on skills like cultural competency, de-escalation and trauma-informed practices. It highlights the task force’s process as well as findings, recommendations and next steps from each individual committee.