To the ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Community:
I write today with updates regarding our efforts to assess and address the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 abortion ruling.
In addition to launching a earlier this month, we have begun to engage individuals across the university to identify key questions and concerns. Among the most common topics are ensuring we support our entire campus community—and that we provide guidance regarding access to reproductive health services, academic freedom, and expressive activities.
As part of our response, I have appointed my Chief of Staff and Vice President, Katie Brancato, and Deputy General Counsel Gabrielle Lincoff as co-chairs of the Reproductive Health Task Force that will provide policy recommendations to Provost Ben Vinson and me. After consulting widely and receiving nominations, we have finished appointing of the rest of the group; you can see its membership on this .
Among our first steps is to create a Student Health Emergency Fund, which will provide financial assistance with health-related travel, lodging and care. We are working on the application, evaluation, and grant-making process, and will share more details when they are final. Please know that we soon will provide more specific information on providing similar assistance to faculty, staff and postdocs.
In addition, our assessment of existing legislation and pending bills indicates to date that none require adjustments to curriculum or instruction. They also do not affect care practices at University Health & Counseling Services. We will continue to follow developments closely and will notify you of any changes.
Finally, we have created a that provides information regarding expressive activities and advocacy among members of our community. Freedom of expression is central to our mission, and we strongly support the exercise of First Amendment rights.
I want to thank everyone involved in all of these efforts to date; your commitment and compassion exemplify the best of our ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ community.
Eric W. Kaler
President