Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As I sit down to write to you on Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, I find myself flooded by emotions. Sympathy, outrage, grief, confusion, and through it all an overwhelming desire to do something. Something meaningful to help our savaged society to heal.

In the past few weeks, many have taken to the streets to say “enough is enough.” As the nation watched the memorials of Black lives that were taken too soon, all of us at the New York School of Interior Design have deliberated to understand our place in this conversation. Although we have made strides in the last decades, our industry, and in fact our campus body, is not yet representative of the communities in which we live, or even from which we recruit our students. Change is in motion, and has been for years, but it has moved too slowly. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks are in the company of a long line of Black Americans who have been systemically oppressed, targeted, and killed. This tragic, repetitive pattern of events closely mirrors incidents of the 1960’s, as our nation historically wrestled with social injustice. Yet over the past weeks, as Americans of all races rise up in protest, we see even greater diversity, inclusion, and recognition of the need for shared responsibility to ensure justice and equality for all.

Much has been said on social media (including NYSID's), and in emailed statements just like this one about how we can, and must, do better. That’s true. But NYSID’s leadership team is committed to going further. We will do better. Now is our time to listen. The leadership team at the college is actively listening to the voices around us, both in our community and outside of it, to better understand how we can partner for an environment that’s built on a foundation of inclusiveness and equity. 

Black lives matter. Black designer’s voices matter. Black spaces matter.

I am grateful to the members of our community who represent the Black lived-experience who have shared their insight on how NYSID can facilitate the systemic change we so desperately need. I look forward to continuing these conversations and working with all of you to design and build a better world.

Sincerely,
David Sprouls
President