Dartmouth College recently issued a joint statement on behalf of its trustees and senior leadership voicing unequivocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While some universities have chosen to remain silent on the BLM movement sweeping the nation, in issuing this statement, Dartmouth has signaled to its students, alumni, faculty, and staff that it will not remain silent on this most important issue.

As the Dartmouth Board of Trustees, President Philip Hanlon, and his senior leadership group wrote in a message to community members, “As Dartmouth senior leaders, we want to express our strong support for the growing movement across the nation to put an end to systemic and systematic racism demonstrated so tragically by the recent killings of Black people at the hands of the police. We are outraged by these acts of violence, and we are inspired by the diversity of races, backgrounds, and the full spectrum of generations engaged in protesting in cities and towns across this land. We join with them to say that Black Lives Matter, and that racial injustice must end. We recognize that outrage, and even inspiration will not be enough. If we want to see change in the nation, and at Dartmouth, we must act as well as speak.”

Dartmouth then delineated specific ways the school would help to fight systemic racism at the school and in our greater society going forward, including: elevating the next leader of the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity to vice president and chief diversity officer, reporting directly to President Hanlon; making implicit bias training mandatory for all students, faculty, and staff; offering greater access to therapists of color for those who need counseling; reviewing and updating policies for Dartmouth’s Department of Safety & Security, and more.

Ivy Coach hereby salutes Dartmouth College not only for its leaders voicing their support for the Black Lives Matter Movement but for proposing specific policies that will aim to create a better, more inclusive College on the Hill in the years to come. Let’s hope America’s universities choose to follow Dartmouth’s lead.