Maintaining a Supportive Environment

Dear students, faculty, and staff:

As our mission states, Wake Forest strives to be a place where “a vibrant and diverse learning community weds knowledge, experiences and service that lift the human spirit.” These words are at the heart of our motto, Pro Humanitate, and our commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Our community is one in which individuals with different backgrounds, beliefs, identities, and passions come together to learn and live together and it is our responsibility to help to create an inclusive environment where each person is valued and respected for who they are. As in any community, barriers to inclusion exist on our campus, and occasionally members of our community behave in ways that are disrespectful and uncivil to others. This may include, for example, slurs, jokes, or even vandalism targeted at an individual(s) because of their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnic origin. Such acts of incivility, including bias, do not reflect our values and threaten our ability to create and maintain a safe and supportive environment.

The University considers acts of bias unacceptable and intolerable. The University has in place a number of policies and statements that reinforce our commitment to creating and sustaining an inclusive environment. With the support of the University’s senior leadership, the Division of Campus Life and the Office of Diversity & Inclusion have developed a campus-wide Bias Incident Response System. Students, faculty, and staff may use this system to report bias-related incidents that they have witnessed or experienced, for review and investigation by the University in accordance with the applicable University policy. A Bias Incident Response Team may be engaged to provide support services and educational outreach.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident of bias or incivility in our community, please use the ReportBias System to submit an incident report, so that we can appropriately respond and support those involved.

Regards,

Nathan O. Hatch
President