To the Clark community,

Earlier this month we wrote to you about our decision to commission an independent review of the events that took place in Worcester the night of Monday, June 1, 2020, during which five Clark students were arrested. We indicated at that time that the University would share the results of this independent review with the Clark community once the review was completed. We provide here the full report of the review, which was prepared by Michael Angelini and Brian Mullin of the law firm Bowditch and Dewey.

The scope of Bowditch and Dewey’s independent review was to gather as much information as possible on the events of Monday evening into Tuesday morning as they pertain to Clark University and our students. We intentionally share this report in its entirety with you without any commentary so that the information therein can speak for itself.

The release of this report concludes the University’s review of that night’s events but will inform the broader dialogue about policing on our campus that we will be facilitating over the next several months.

As we are all aware, what took place the night of June 1 occurred in the context of extensive and pre-existing calls to address systemic racism, end police violence against Black people, and, specifically for Clark, re-examine approaches to campus safety and the inclusive environment we have always sought to foster, especially as all these matters relate to the experience of African American/Black members of our community. Our focus on the wider context and the changes that are necessary will not waiver. As referenced in the June 18 letter from representative academic and administrative leaders across the University, we have begun to implement plans to fulfill those initial commitments to change. We re-iterate our respect and thanks to the Black Student Union for calling on Clark to do more and better in addressing longstanding problems and inequities in our campus community and to fully promote diversity and inclusion. As promised in our June 18 letter, we will be updating the campus community regularly on those plans, including the inclusive process we will follow to ensure we achieve deep and lasting positive change for our university.

Sincerely,

David P. Angel, President

David B. Fithian, President-elect