An open letter to President Jischke:

We, the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Ames, are concerned about the racial tensions that have recently surfaced on the Iowa State University campus.

We believe the issue of racial prejudice is vitally important and appeal to you and to all people of good will to arise to help heal the wounds of racism and build a campus community in which people of diverse backgrounds can live in unity.

Racism is the most challenging issue confronting America.

It has wounded generations of people of color far more deeply than we realize. Progress toward tolerance, mutual respect, and unity has been painfully slow and marked with repeated setbacks.

In order to heal these wounds, we must commit ourselves to the equality of the races by eliminating racial prejudice within our institutions.

As a highly respected institution of higher learning, Iowa State has a responsibility to address this most challenging issue.

Multicultural awareness, diversity training, the Diversity Steering Committee, and the periodic survey for studying the racial climate on campus are milestones on the path of progress toward racial unity at ISU.

We feel these efforts need to be supplemented in order to effectively overcome the moral and spiritual challenges that confront us.

`The Baha’i teachings offer a unique approach to achieving unity in diversity.

Our Assembly has established an Educational Task Force on Racism, and they are available to assist you and the campus community in using this approach to help overcome the racial tensions.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Ames