Dear Gallaudet community:

The Gallaudet Board of Trustees met virtually July 20-21 with an agenda sharply focused on eradicating institutional racism. We are pleased to report that the Trustees made significant progress at our meeting on specific actions the Board can take to support Gallaudet鈥檚 Anti-racism Commitment.

At this two-day meeting, we first prioritized a comprehensive and careful review of the extensive community feedback we have been receiving over the past several weeks from multiple stakeholders both inside and outside of the Gallaudet community. We then used this community feedback to serve as the foundation to develop the Board鈥檚 own Anti-racism Plan, which we will be sharing very soon. Our meeting also included an update on the University鈥檚 priorities for Belonging and Equity and discussion on restorative justice in higher education.

Leadership Changes on the Board of Trustees

As part of our two-day meeting, we took important steps to reconstitute the leadership of our Board of Trustees as described below.

Trustee Emeritus Dr. Glenn B. Anderson, 鈥�68 & H-鈥�17, will return as Board Chair, effective immediately, for a two-year term. Dr. Anderson is one of the most respected leaders in our community and beyond, and we are very delighted that he is rejoining the Gallaudet Board of Trustees as our Chair. He brings an incomparable wealth of experience and expertise that will be invaluable to our community. We are grateful for his continued service to Gallaudet and look forward to working with him.

Dr. Anderson succeeds Seth Bravin, 鈥�95, as Chair. Trustee Jose 鈥淧epe鈥� Cervantes, 鈥�05, in addition to his Executive Committee role, will succeed Greg Hlibok, 鈥�89, as Chair of the Governance Committee. Trustees Bravin and Hlibok will remain on the Board.

Trustees Dr. Charlene Dwyer; Dr. Philip P. Kerstetter, PhD 鈥�85; and Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen, 鈥�92, G鈥�-05, & H-鈥�09, were elected to new three-year terms. Additionally, the Board of Trustees would like to thank James F. X. Payne, who recently departed from the Board following nine years of service.

Gallaudet Board of Trustees Extends President Cordano鈥檚 Contract

One of our most important responsibilities as Gallaudet鈥檚 Board of Trustees is to ensure that the University has leadership continuity in place to address the myriad of pressing challenges currently confronting higher education and this includes the review and approval of the president鈥檚 contract. We are happy to share that we were able to conclude this work with President Cordano.

In executing this new five-year contract, the Board of Trustees considered the expansive work and progress that President Cordano has led over the past several years, including: her stewardship of The Gallaudet Promise 2030 strategic plan, which establishes a clear and bold vision to accelerate our academic excellence for the next decade and beyond; creation of a multitude of academic and student experience initiatives; prioritizing our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion; strengthening and expanding the vision of Creativity Way; restructuring of Academic Affairs; achieving Carnegie R2 recognition as a doctoral research institution; securing Congressional appropriations underpinning Gallaudet鈥檚 financial security; and implementing new and strengthened approaches to financial management.

President Cordano鈥檚 management of the current COVID-19 pandemic and her commitment and support to advance the University鈥檚 anti-racism work are further demonstrations of her leadership.

Leadership accountability also is one of our most important responsibilities as Trustees. We fully recognize that we must make significantly more progress on our work to dismantle entrenched systems of racism. This is Gallaudet鈥檚 highest priority and we are holding ourselves, President Cordano, and her leadership team fully accountable for action, progress and transparency.

Strong Board and executive team leadership are critically important as Gallaudet begins to chart its future course. We are very pleased both to welcome back Dr. Anderson as Chair and to demonstrate our support for President Cordano鈥檚 continued leadership as we enter Gallaudet鈥檚 next chapter of innovation and transformative change.

Sincerely,

The Board of Trustees