All deans at Ohio State are issuing this statement to reinforce our full support for and alignment with our President and university. As President Kristina Johnson has made clear and research has affirmed, re-envisioning public safety is not as simple as expanding policing or breaking ties with police departments. The root problems require grappling with historical and complex social systems, structures, and relationships shaped by racial inequity.
The Ohio State University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) has emphasized a social, economic, and moral imperative for the university to help improve and transform policing. Without any meaningful changes, the public confidence in policing will continue to worsen among the most vulnerable in society. As the deans of the university’s academic colleges and regional campuses, we fully support the university, which is guided by a vision of achieving a just society, and we commit to ODI’s call to be agents of change in difficult times.
As deans of all the Ohio State colleges and campuses, we commit to remaining engaged in difficult conversations about embedded racial inequities. How we engage these conversations will look different for each of our colleges and campuses. Some will focus on public safety and policing, while others will engage topics such as the histories that have shaped inequities in health, criminal justice, education, or economic opportunity. More importantly, in signing this statement we commit to moving beyond conversation to action. Such a charge requires not only self-reflection, focus, and intention but also planning and accountability. It also necessitates that all voices are welcomed and included.
As deans, our engagement begins with our commitment to work collaboratively across our colleges and with university leadership and stakeholders from our communities to assess our own units, including the experience of all our constituents, and in the coming months develop, make public, and implement action plans for achieving genuine excellence in diversity, equity, and inclusivity. It is of utmost importance to provide a campus community that all people experience as safe and supportive. As a public institution whose core role is to help lift all in society through education for citizenship, it is also important that we join with community partners to participate in conversations and provide expertise when asked to help ensure a safe environment for all Ohioans.
Carol R. Bradford, MD, MS, FACS
Dean, OSU College of Medicine
Vice President for Health Sciences, OSU Wexner Medical Center
Trevor Brown, PhD
Professor and Dean, John Glenn College of Public Affairs
Executive Dean, Professional Colleges
Lincoln L. Davies, JD
Dean and Frank R. Strong Chair in Law
OSU Moritz College of Law
Amy L. Fairchild, PhD, MPH
Professor and Dean, College of Public Health
Thomas Gregoire, PhD, MSW
Dean, College of Social Work
Peter L. Hahn, PhD
Professor & Dean of Arts and Humanities
Ayanna Howard, PhD
Dean, College of Engineering
Damon E. Jaggars
Vice Provost and Dean, University Libraries
Norman W. Jones, PhD
Dean & Director, Mansfield Campus
Ryan D. King, PhD
Professor & Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Cathann A. Kress, PhD
Vice President for Agricultural Administration
Dean, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
Patrick M. Lloyd, DDS, MS, FACP
Dean and Professor, College of Dentistry
William L. MacDonald, PhD
Dean & Director, Newark Campus
Anil Makhija, PhD
Dean, Fisher College of Business
John W. Berry, Sr. Chair in Business
Henry Mann, PharmD, FCCP, FCCM, FASHP
Dean and Professor, College of Pharmacy
Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, APRN-CNP
Vice President for Health Promotion
Dean, College of Nursing
Rustin Moore, DVM, PhD
Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine
Ruth Stanton Chair in Veterinary Medicine
Susan Olesik, PhD
Distinguished University Professor
Dean of Natural and Mathematical Sciences
Donald B. Pope-Davis, PhD
Dean, College of Education and Human Ecology
Timothy A. Rehner, PhD, MSW, ACSW
Dean & Director, Lima Campus
Dana Renga, PhD
Professor & Dean of Arts and Humanities
Gretchen Ritter, PhD
Vice Provost and Executive Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Gregory S. Rose, PhD
Dean & Director, Marion Campus
Executive Dean, Regional Campus Cluster
Karla Zadnik, OD, PhD
Dean, College of Optometry
Executive Dean for Health Sciences