To the TC Community:

It will take weeks and months to bring the implications of this election – one of the most divisive and, to many, surprising of our time – into sharper focus. But now, we want to reaffirm our unshakeable commitment to the values and principles on which Teachers College was founded over a century and a quarter ago, and which keep us strong:

We embrace inclusion and diversity.

We support and defend intellectual integrity and courage, and we encourage respectful disagreement and debate.

We pursue social justice, which places our teaching, research, and practice on the side of human rights and on the front lines against racism, intolerance, and growing inequities in education, health, and economic opportunity.

One of the reasons we have hope in this moment is that we have seen firsthand your commitment to social justice at work, and your determination to continue on your paths to make the world safer, healthier, better educated, and more equitable. In the coming weeks and months, we will continue the conversations – begun on campus Wednesday – in classes, in College-wide forums, through planned programs, and beyond. As we move forward, let’s keep faith with our values and principles.

Susan Fuhrman, President
Tom James, Provost
Teachers College, Columbia University

Published Friday, Nov 11, 2016