Announcing the Task Force on Gender Equity

Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community:

Today I write to announce the formation of a Task Force on Gender Equity, to be chaired by Jane Aiken, J.D. (L’85), Vice Dean and Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. Over the course of the next academic year, this faculty task force will work to develop recommendations on ways for our community to strengthen our capacities to support and advance gender equity among our faculty and senior leadership.

Under Professor Aiken’s leadership, the Task Force will be charged with four key areas of work:

• Studying best practices that have contributed to improved gender equity among faculty and senior leadership;
• Assessing our institutional practices and how they impact gender equity among faculty and senior leadership;
• Recommending specific, actionable steps that Georgetown can take to promote gender equity among faculty and senior leadership in the near, medium and long-term; and,
• Recommending mechanisms for accountability to measure the impact of the steps taken toward achieving gender equity and to sustain the progress that is achieved.

In each of these areas, the Task Force will seek to recognize and reflect on the diverse experiences that comprise our community and the many ways that different identities and backgrounds intersect with gender.

Campus and faculty leaders have played and will continue to play an integral role in our work ahead. In the coming days, Professor Aiken and I will be reaching out to members of our community to build a Task Force that includes faculty from a variety of disciplines, perspectives, and roles within the University.

We have a deep commitment to recruiting the very best and most talented students, faculty, and staff, and to ensuring that our faculty and senior administrators reflect the diversity of our community. In this moment, we have the opportunity to look ahead to the important and necessary work that remains to achieve greater gender equity in our community.

I look forward to engaging with all of you in the work ahead and I wish to thank Professor Aiken for her leadership and the many contributions she will make to our effort. 

Sincerely,

John J. DeGioia