August 19, 2024

Dear ASHE Community,

We are following up on the message we sent on March 20, 2024. As noted in that message and reinforced in the ASHE Bylaws, the ASHE Board is committed to improving the climate and culture of the Association. We have continued to take actions to address concerns raised by ASHE members and are updating you on those actions made since the March 20, 2024 message.

Here are direct actions that have been taken since that message:

• A subcommittee of the Board recommended, and the Board approved, that we contract with Tenenbaum Law Group (TLG) to conduct an inquiry into the association’s processes followed for publication of missing presidential addresses from the Review of Higher Education and potential overreach in these processes.
• TLG completed the inquiry and presented it to the Board on June 13, 2024.
• The ASHE Board met on July 11, 2024, to discuss the report and its recommendations.
• The Board approved sharing the executive summary of the inquiry report with our members, accompanied by a short video to further contextualize it. The full report is also available to ASHE members and linked within the executive summary.
• The ASHE Inclusion, Equity, and Organizational Diversity Committee is leading a survey this fall to learn more about Black womyn’s experiences in ASHE.

The video also highlights further action taken by the Board based upon the outcomes of the inquiry report and other serious concerns about anti-Blackness broadly, and the treatment of Black womyn leaders in the Association, specifically. Our Bylaws compel us to be “accountable in our policies, programs, and practices” (p. 2). With this in mind, the Board will continue to strive to realize our mission and ethical principles and support our members to do this work with us.

If you have any questions, please reach out directly to Dr. Jeni Hart (president@ashe.ws), current president, or another member of the ASHE Board of Directors.

Respectfully,

Jeni Hart, President

Ana Martínez-Alemán, Immediate Past President

Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, President Elect

Cameron Beatty, At-Large Member

Felecia Commodore, At-Large Member  

Antonio Duran, At-Large Member 

Jennifer Johnson, At-Large Member 

Vigor Lam, Graduate Student Member 

Hannah Hyun White, Graduate Student Member

Tomika Ferguson, Inclusion, Equity, and Organizational Diversity Chair

Beth Bukoski, CAHEP Chair

Natasha Croom, CEP Chair

Christina Yao, CIHE Chair

Kevin McClure, CPPHE Chair

Heather Rowan-Kenyon, Publications Committee Chair