Dear Colleagues,
For over five years it has been my privilege to serve this university as its inaugural Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Today, I write to share with you my decision to conclude my time at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, effective May 30, 2025.
I leave this university even more confident than when I arrived in Illinois' commitment to create a campus community that is welcoming, accessible, and inclusive for all of its students, faculty, and staff. The commitment that you have shown has been steadfast. These past five years have provided us with unique challenges and have tested us both in many ways.
But out of these challenging moments rose some of our greatest accomplishments. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of a strong, supportive accessibility and accommodations response from the university and paved the way to restructure those processes and responses. National unrest in the summer of 2020 led to the creation of the Chancellor’s Research Program that brings the breadth and depth of our collective expertise to bear on society’s most persistent challenges. And, we have successfully administered the first All Campus Climate Assessment in over ten years so we can better understand the experiences of our community as they learn, live and thrive at Illinois.
I am proud of how this university community is unafraid to focus its expertise, creativity, and talent on the work needed to create a better future for all, and of the work that we have done together. That work continues and is more important than ever.
Sincerely,
Sean C. Garrick
Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion