A message from President Tim Sands
Official photo as of Nov. 2024
To the university community,
Diversity in all of its dimensions is essential to ensuring that the intellectual environment at Virginia Tech remains vibrant, and that our students build skills that will empower them to serve communities across the commonwealth and the world. That diversity of human experience is only possible with an inclusive environment, free of discrimination, that promotes dialogue across differences as expressed in our statement on Freedom of Expression and Inquiry as well as our Principles of Community. These aspirational statements guide us as we navigate changing internal and external challenges and pressures.
Last Tuesday the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors approved a resolution that aims to ensure compliance with current interpretations of federal law regarding discrimination. The resolution directs the university to dissolve the Office for Inclusive Strategy and Excellence, transfer permissible programs to other areas, and conduct a comprehensive review of university programs, which is currently underway.
I know many members of our community have concerns and questions about the path forward. I do not yet have all of the answers, but there are elements of our future state that are sufficiently settled to discuss with our community. On Friday, April 4 at 10 a.m., I will hold a live-streamed town-hall style conversation with representatives from the Faculty, AP Faculty, Staff, Undergraduate Student, and Graduate and Professional Student Senates. Additional conversations will be scheduled in the future on specific topics within the scope of recent changes in our regulatory and funding environment at the federal level.
As I noted on Tuesday, I am heartened by the board’s commitment to the value of diversity and inclusion as core to the mission of the university as affirmed in the opening paragraphs of the resolution. InclusiveVT will continue to guide our work in support of our strategic priorities – Virginia Tech Advantage and Global Distinction – that promote student success and elevate our impact as a modern land-grant research institution.
Thank you for caring deeply about Virginia Tech, our community, and our future.
In the spirit of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve).
Tim Sands,
President