Dear Alumni,

As we prepare to cautiously (but hopefully) ring in a new year, the SCU Alumni Association is proud of the events, virtual resources, alumni stories, and communications we delivered in 2020. We are also proud of the commitment we made to ensuring all alumni feel heard and welcome to meaningfully participate in our community.

Over the past six months, we collaborated closely with Santa Clara University alumni, current students, administrators, campus partners, and community advocates to cultivate generous encounters, engage in meaningful conversations, and implement actions that will help us build a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive alumni family.

More specifically: 

• We formed a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group to track and implement the commitments outlined in our June 24 letter to all alumni.
  • The group consists of two members of the Alumni Relations staff and eight members of the National Alumni Board of Directors, including a student representative.

• The University's search for a Vice President for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion has resumed and our National Alumni Board of Directors President, Dr. Melina Johnson ’01, M.A. ’03, is one of four alumni (as well as two current students) serving on the search committee.
  • The search committee is preparing to hold first-round interviews this week and plans to invite four finalists to interview with campus community members via Zoom in January.

• We have strengthened our working relationships with the Office for Diversity & Inclusion (ODI) and the Office for Multicultural Learning (OML), including:
  • Engaging nine alumni speakers (from the Class of 1996 to the Class of 2020) in five Community Conversations events between June and December
  • Recruiting 10 alumni as part of the Rainbow Buddies mentoring program, which pairs LGBTQ+ students with faculty, staff, and alumni
  • Inviting alumni to participate alongside the campus community in Digital Difficult Dialogues, such as the Nov. 12 program, "How Do Indigenous Lives Matter?"
  • Initiating and participating in monthly meetings between Alumni Relations and OML, and monthly meetings between Alumni Relations and ODI

• We shared updates and solicited alumni input for the Campus Safety Audit. Judge LaDoris Cordell (Ret.) is in the final stages of preparing the audit report and it remains on track to be delivered to University President Kevin O'Brien, S.J., by the end of this month.
  
  
• In collaboration with the corresponding undergraduate student organizations, we created the Middle Eastern & North African (MENA) and Native American alumni communities. These groups offer new ways for members of our alumni family to engage and feel comfortable sharing with others.
  
  
• The first Alumni Identity Council met on Nov. 5. The Council consists of leaders from all seven alumni identity-based communities and will provide guidance, share issues, and ensure we create unique, diverse engagement opportunities.
  • The Council will meet again in January, this time with leaders from corresponding identity-based student organizations. Together they will initiate conversations and begin developing plans for improved connections between alumni and current students.

• The National Alumni Board of Directors welcomed five panelists to our Nov. 19 meeting, each of whom were featured in the Fall Santa Clara Magazine article titled "Not a Moment, But a Movement." From the Class of 1970 to the Class of 2020, these individuals discussed the duality of their SCU experience (how it's possible to have both positive and negative feelings about their time here) and shared ideas on how alumni might help the University end the cycle of grievances for students of color.
  • The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group will be incorporating these ideas into their plans for the coming year.

• We launched our first-ever Bronco Business Registry and have highlighted minority-owned and women-owned businesses.

For more information and ongoing updates, be sure to check out our new comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion web page. This page will keep you current on all Alumni Association updates, University initiatives, and opportunities to get involved in SCU racial justice efforts. If you have additional ideas about how we can better support our entire alumni family, please share your suggestions here.

We pray you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

We look forward to connecting with you in 2021!