Institutions of higher education generate and disseminate knowledge to students who will become future leaders. Thus, universities have the opportunity to serve society, and science has the chance to transform it through public policy. In contrast, higher education and its practices, policies and procedures were built by and in service to a small, exclusive sliver of society, namely White, affluent men. Colonization and White supremacy were not merely the historical context upon which higher education developed, rather higher education was the tool used to dominate Black, Indigenous and People of Color and provide evidence of White superiority. Ignorance and dismissal of this history have functioned to sustain racism in research and pedagogy. We write to acknowledge this history and also to be transparent about my intention to dismantle those practices and policies that promote exclusion in the academic environments. Further, we are committed to understanding systems of exclusion as interlocking in my efforts to eliminate them.

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Excellence in research requires diversity. Science has (and continues to be) stunted by the limited perspective of a single, small proportion of the population (e.g., White men). We are committed to supporting a diversity of thoughts, perspectives, experiences and identities (including but not limited to race, gender identity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, religion, ability, neurotype, parental status, nationality, geographical location etc.) in the laboratory. All of you belong. Further, we are committed to fostering a safe learning environment and building a community by working to eliminate oppression (ableism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, transphobia and heterosexism) within academia.