<div dir="ltr"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-c8300434-7fff-cd38-7268-bc1906f4980c"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Dear GWAMIT members,</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In light of the recent tumultuous and painful events, we would like to affirm that GWAMIT is committed to supporting Black graduate womxn at MIT and the Black Lives Matter movement through immediate and long-term actions. The issues of racism are deeply intertwined with the issues of gender-based discrimination, and we firmly believe that fighting for racial justice plays a fundamental role in serving the goals of our organization.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Thank you for your patience in these trying times. The GWAMIT board has been working to develop a plan that will outline actionable steps our organization can take to better serve the Black womxn of our community. The plan will address GWAMIT’s mission to support diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within departments and across the broader MIT administration, as well as reforms to diversify our events and community outreach. We will share this plan with the public in the next few weeks, and communicate our progress in meeting these goals with full transparency to our members.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The fight for justice does not stop at the end of a news cycle. We will continually fight for reforms at the administrative level and within our own organization to make MIT a place where Black womxn and students are supported in their professions and communities.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We recognize that we have a long road ahead, and we will not have all the answers right away. If you have a comment or suggestion for our board, or would like to get involved, we want to hear from you. </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfhUNtHZy2U_n9D8OlNBAb6EBBiOoP3jXx_8SQEaTp2_CXyxw/viewform?usp=sf_link" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Fill out the following form</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> and we will do our best to address it in our long-term mission.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In solidarity,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">GWAMIT executive board 2019-20</span></p></span><br class="gmail-Apple-interchange-newline"></div>