To the Roosevelt Community,
Seventy-seven years ago this month, on November 15, 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated Roosevelt College “to the enlightenment of the human spirit.”At that time, she also told the crowd of over 1,000 that:
Here in this great city you have many, many races, many religions and in Roosevelt College those races and those religions will meet. They will work together, and it will be an example of what can be achieved by cooperation.
I am writing to reaffirm Roosevelt’s historic commitment to creating a safe and welcoming community for every one of our students, staff, faculty, trustees, alumni and friends during an unsettling time of rising antisemitism at universities across the country.
From our beginnings, Roosevelt University has strongly opposed bigotry, hatred and discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity and gender. We were founded to protest racist admissions quotas limiting the number of Jewish and Black students at Chicago’s YMCA College and other universities in Chicago and nationwide.
Roosevelt has always been proud of pioneering a diverse academic community that has from the beginning included Jewish professors, students, administrators, staff and trustees. Many who came to Roosevelt in the early years were not welcome at many other universities, but Roosevelt was there for them and continues its commitment to inclusion today.
We are positioned to be examples of how to create real change that results in a more just, inclusive society. Inclusion is at the core of Roosevelt’s legacy, and we do not discriminate based on one’s religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, economic status, ethnicity, disability, national origin, or veteran or familial status. Let’s reflect on the challenges ahead of us and how we can facilitate change to make our university and communities a safer world for all.
As always, I welcome your thoughts.
With Warm Regards,
Ali R. Malekzadeh, Ph.D.
President