an open letter to msu about dei

posted on Jan 23, 2025

danny caballero

This post does not reflect the views of Michigan State University (my employer), the Union of Tenure System Faculty, the Michigan Education Agency, or any other organization with which I am affiliated.

Source: Michigan State University

dear msu

This sucks. It really really sucks.

We woke up today and the world really had changed. President Trump issued a slew of executive orders including orders that ban diversity, equity, and inclusion training and programs at the federal level. These executive orders and those that target trans folks and promote sex discrimination are a cruel attack on our families, our friends, and our colleagues. It’s simply unacceptable.

I know that this news is received differently by different people. Some folks are scared, some are angry, some are sad, some are numb. Some feel all those feelings at the same time. And some might support these orders and find my views to be offensive. While I’m not writing for those folks, I hope they will read to the end.

I’m sure that MSU has been working hard to determine what to do. And I know there’s confusion, frustration, and fear. I also know there’s people who care in every place and at every level of our institution – people that are staying up late, working long hours, and doing everything to try to figure out how to respond. To these folks, I appreciate you and what you are doing.

I’ve been a professor at MSU for the last twelve years. Michigan State has given me the life that I have. It’s fostered my professional growth, supported my research, and provided for my family. The folks at MSU have given me so much more than I’ve been able to give back. I work with some of the most amazing colleagues, the best staff, and incredible students. I get to teach brilliant, thoughtful, and creative young people. I get to collaborate and to puzzle through research projects with my wonderful graduate students. I’ve had incredible opportunities to help support and grow our internationally known STEM education community. MSU has given me the academic freedom to grow and learn to become a better teacher, mentor, and researcher. MSU has become my home. I’m deeply grateful for all of this.

These executive orders are a direct threat to the MSU community. They target our families, our friends, and our colleagues. They are designed to silence, to intimidate, and to divide. The authors aim to threaten us into compliance and to make us afraid to speak against their views.

These orders are not consistent with the principles and practices of our public research institution. We advocate for freedom: freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and freedom of inquiry. We teach our students to become critical, engaged, and reflective citizens. We encourage discussion, conversation, and constructive disagreement. We use history, evidence, data, and research to inform our decisions. These orders attack those principles and practices.

These orders do not reflect MSU’s values. Let’s not shy away from those. We are an imperfect institution that has worked to do better. We value diversity, equity, and inclusion. We appreciate the different people, perspectives, and experiences that make up our community. We grow and learn from that diversity in ways immeasurable. The differences in our community are what makes us so strong and our love of MSU is what unites us.

We understand the idea that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. We want to push beyond providing a level playing field. We want to remove any barriers that might exist for anyone in our community. They are our family, our friends, and our colleagues. We should also remember that we have made tangible efforts to advance equity. Some of our programs are nationally recognized for this. These accolades are due to the hard work of students, staff, and faculty across our campus.

We are all members of the MSU community, and we want to belong here. Inclusion is about belonging. Each us of wants to be valued and respected. Inclusion is what ensures that you can bring your whole self to MSU and that you will be valued and respected when you are here. Inclusion helps us focus on the work of being creative, innovative, and collaborative. Feeling like you belong means you can focus and do your best work.

I know that MSU is figuring out what to do. I know there are people working day and night to determine how to respond. I’ve been frustrated, confused, and scared. I’ve been angry, sad, and numb. But that’s what these orders were designed to do. And I don’t plan to let them do that to me.

What I ask is that we continue to do the work. We continue to stick to our values. We continue to support our family, our friends, and our colleagues. We must support everyone in the MSU community.

This means MSU needs to do the hard thing.

We need to stand up to these orders. We need to say they are wrong. We need to say that they harm our community. We need to say they are are not consistent with our values. We need to say they are antithetical to our public mission. We need to say they are not acceptable.

We need to stand up for every member of our community that is being targeted. We need to stand up for our values.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are just words. The values, the principles, and the practices that they represent are what we must fight for. We must not let them take from us what we’ve worked so hard to achieve. We must not let them reverse the progress that we’ve made as a community.

We must stand firm for the MSU community.

If you’ve read this far, thanks. I appreciate you. I appreciate your work, your effort, your time, and especially your care for our MSU community.

That care is expressed to you regardless of your background, your identity, your beliefs, or frankly, your views on these executive orders. That care is expressed to you because you are a member of our MSU community.

I told you to read to the end. I hope you did.

Go Green.

-Danny