Dear UNT community members,

Today, I had a great discussion with leaders from our student, staff, faculty and alumni organizations representing our Black community members, and I feel very optimistic about our path forward. During our open and honest conversation, we shared “Moving Forward Together: UNT's Action Plan for Improving Diversity and Inclusion on Campus.” Our plan addresses the action steps we have already taken and a number of steps we are committing to take - from mandatory cultural competency and implicit bias training to hiring a more diverse workforce to better supporting and promoting inclusivity across campus.

I feel this plan is a solid step in the right direction, which advances diversity and inclusion on our campus in significant ways and confirms our commitment to becoming an antiracist campus. While we have addressed most of the requests that were presented to us, we all know there is much more that needs to be done to create an equitable campus and build a culture that actively promotes diversity as a core value. We are dedicating ourselves to moving down this path together as a diverse community that fosters mutual respect and promotes our students' success.

In the weeks and months to come, we will advance new initiatives and continue the constructive dialogue that has been started here over the past few months. I invite each of you to review the action plan and continue to share your thoughts and ideas for how we can keep pursuing our path to build the culture we all want here at UNT. You can email me your thoughts at untpresident@unt.edu or diversity.inclusion@unt.edu.

I am steadfastly committed to celebrating our diversity and working toward the changes necessary for our university to lead in the fight against racism and bias so that each and every individual feels like a valued member of our Mean Green family.

UNT Proud,
Neal Smatresk
UNT President