President's Message

Dear Friends,

In this issue of The Valley, you will find powerful stories of Dutchmen who have devoted their lives to making communities equitable, inclusive, and safe. We can look to them and the critical work they do for inspiration as each of us strives to eliminate the bias and racism that permeate our culture. Our society has a lot of challenging work to do. LVC has a lot of challenging work to do.

We can only achieve equity and justice for all if individuals and institutions alike commit to becoming anti-racist and anti-biased. LVC has taken some steps to achieve diversity and inclusion on its campus and in its curriculum. Now we must define and unite around a clear and powerful vision of how we will live as a community and educate our students. This is our charge as an institution of higher education that serves the public good and elevates lives. That is why I have devoted my career to higher education and why I chose to come to LVC.

The College is beginning its next strategic planning process. You have my word that diversity and inclusion will be one of the pillars of the plan, and our written institutional values and actions will speak to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We will work toward this goal on our campus and prepare our students to do the same in our nation and our world. We will create opportunities for those who have been discriminated against, excluded, or left behind. We will prepare the workforce with the capacity to address the nation’s challenges, which will require a diversity of thought and perspectives. We will address barriers to equitable faculty, staff, and student recruitment, recognize and strive to eliminate implicit biases, and implement measures to close achievement gaps. Our students deserve no less.

Dr. James M. MacLaren, President