A Message from the President of Mills College By Elizabeth L. Hillman
AFTER A SUMMER of preparation and
Building COVID-19 recovery plans
uncertainty, Mills College is approach-
and posting them for easy access and
ing a fall semester that promises to
with near-constant updates to accom-
answer many pressing questions: What
modate a dynamic public health envi-
will students and faculty experience as
ronment; drafting specialized safety,
Mills shifts virtually all of its educa-
health, and operational guidelines for
tional opportunities online? With but a
students, staff, faculty, and—eventu-
fraction of Mills students returning to
ally, after the campus is able to open
live on campus (perhaps 200, compared
further—for guests and visitors.
to a usual campus population of three times that), and the vast majority of staff and faculty working remotely, can Mills keep the coronavirus at bay? Will virtual instruction limit the negative impact of the changing climate and “smoke days” during a fall wildfire season in Northern California that is already off to a horrific,
Engaging our faculty in digital pedagogy, trauma-informed teaching, antiracism, and a new learning platform as well as welcoming new faculty colleagues, including in chemistry, education, gender and sexuality studies, political science, and sociology.
lightning-induced start? How will the
Creating an outdoor tutorial to ful-
2020 US election season play out in the
fill a new requirement for in-person
context of rising demands for equity and
instruction for international students,
racial justice, widespread economic cri-
exploring the uses of mats on our ten-
sis, and a global pandemic? How quickly
nis courts for dance classes, and add-
can medical advances in preventing
ing risk-reducing protocols for access
granted only some women the right to
and treating COVID-19 overcome the
to biology and chemistry labs as well
vote. It did not enfranchise most Black
uneven policies and logistical challenges
as art and book art studios.
women for whom suffrage would come
that have hindered the United States’ response to date? Some questions, however, we can already answer, having learned quite a lot about Mills in recent months. Perhaps the most fundamental is whether the College is up to the challenge of stewarding its people and mission through such chaotic times. I can assure you that it is, and that, with the support of students,
Convening frequent virtual town halls that have attracted hundreds of participants and dozens of questions, creating a sense of community in the spaces and ways that are available to us.
legal successes of the civil rights movement. No woman has ever been elected president or vice president in the 100 years since 1920, and this year’s US Congress, the most diverse in history, is
Securing emergency funds for stu-
more than three-fourths male. Change
dents to support them through the
may, at last, be at hand. This fall, for
ongoing financial crisis.
the first time, a Black woman–Kamala
staff, faculty, alums, and trustees, Mills
Continuing partnership conversations
will continue to adapt and innovate as
with our UC Berkeley colleagues as we
we both recover from COVID-19 and
work together to protect the health
refine the contours of an expanded part-
and safety of our communities and
nership with UC Berkeley. Our teams are
prepare for the future.
moving on many fronts at once, to wit:
only decades later, after the political and
Harris—is the vice presidential candidate of a major political party. Since I arrived at Mills, I’ve voted in person at a polling site located in the Mills Student Union. Like so many familiar rituals, the election this November
Perhaps you share my sense that we’re
promises to be different. Local election
Meeting regularly with leaders of
living in momentous times. Of course,
officials are adapting polling places and
our Black community and prepar-
that’s not new for Mills. A century
times to reduce the risk of COVID-19
ing an antiracism plan to respond to
ago this month, during Aurelia Henry
and ensure access to voting, and Mills is
demands that Mills do more to over-
Reinhardt’s long tenure as president
standing by to support this effort how-
come systemic and anti-Black racism,
of Mills College, the United States rati-
ever we can. Soon enough, those plans
support all students in their educa-
fied the 19th amendment, a crucial
will be made clear, and soon after, we’ll
tional aspirations, and build a more
step toward gender equity in American
know more about what this new world
equitable, inclusive community.
politics. The 19th amendment, however,
will bring. FA L L 2 0 2 0
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