Letter from the USAFA Superintendent

USAFA Family,

As you well know, the past several months have been an agonizingly difficult time for our Academy, for our extended USAFA community, and for our entire Nation. Operating under COVID-19 prevention, quarantine, and isolation measures has been exceptionally difficult, but we have an essential mission and we are pressing through these conditions to continue developing the next generation of leaders for our Air and Space Forces. I am extremely proud of how our cadets, faculty, staff and coaches have stepped up, going above and beyond to ensure our continued mission success. 

Amidst the stress that COVID-19 has placed on our society, across our Nation we are also grappling with an outpouring of emotion and outrage over systemic racism and social injustice. USAFA is not immune to these issues, and on our campus the emotion is raw as well. Recently, some members of our athletic teams created a video in response to this ongoing public dialogue. This video has generated a range of reactions, with many people seeing different things. The intent of those who developed and participated in the video was not to support any political organization. I want to make it perfectly clear that neither the Academy, I, the Athletic Department as whole, nor Falcon Nation was intending to support politically partisan activity.  

Conversation and dialogue are critical to progress and finding solutions to the toughest issues that affect our society. I fully encourage this, even if the conversation is difficult, divisive, and imperfect. It is because these conversations are important that they are not easy. This is even more important at an institution of higher education and leadership development.  To that end, I have directed my staff to coordinate a USAFA-wide effort to facilitate these ongoing critical conversations for both cadets and our permanent party. In addition, we will conduct an internal assessment and review for biases within our policies, processes, practices, curricula, and artifacts, in order to identify disparities and make tangible, enduring change. I have attached the memo directing these actions to this email. Please read the letter as it captures why we need to take on this effort. 

Now, more than ever, we need the support of our graduate community, and I am proud to say that these past months have only revealed the strength of the bonds in our Academy family. Thank you for your unfaltering concern and engagement.

VR, Jay