On the eve of the Inauguration...

Like millions of other Americans, the Gardner Institute’s staff and Board of Directors are deeply disturbed and saddened by the attack on the citadel of our democracy, our nation’s Capitol, on January 6, 2021. This assault has provided an occasion for us to reflect upon and further our resolve to advance our mission, which is based upon the pursuit of social justice to achieve the as yet unfilled promise of our democracy and the unfinished civil rights movement. This mission most fundamentally is to help our democracy increase the proportion of our citizens who are successful in their quest for higher education attainment.

 We believe that the recent events are in part a sad result of what happens when many Americans fall prey to baseless big lies – in this case, lies about a stolen election. As part of a broader effort to help counter this dangerous state of affairs, higher education institutions must double-down on both the breadth and depth of their efforts to better educate a critical mass of the nation’s citizenry in order to assure that individuals reach conclusions substantiated by fact and the critical examination of evidence. 

 As we look forward to tomorrow’s inauguration, we hope for a peaceful transfer of power and are deeply committed to social justice. We pledge to do our part to cherish, protect, and preserve our democratic Republic, and towards that end, we are resolved to make our work consistent with that goal.