Black Lives Matter

The College of Design continues to be saddened and angered by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others who are unjustly murdered based on the color of their skin. We cannot let this continue to happen. Furthermore, we cannot let our profession, one which is predominately white, remain silent on this issue.

We want to uplift our community, and use our platform as designers to raise awareness and education around the issues surrounding marginalized groups in the design profession. I am personally committed to furthering my education about systemic racism in both our country and within the design profession, and exploring the ways in which our methods of design thinking can become a vehicle for correction. I am committed to bringing these issues to the forefront of our college consciousness and daily discourse, and to providing an inclusive, just and equitable platform for our students.

To begin this dialogue, I will be meeting with our department heads in the college, and I will routinely solicit input and help moving forward. It will take all of us, working together, to address the changes that need to be made.

Humbly,

Mark Elison Hoversten, Ph.D., FASLA, FCELA
Dean, College of Design