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Dear É«½ç°É Community:

Today is Election Day—a day our students, faculty, and staff will make their voices heard on national, state, and local issues that are important to our communities. I want to thank everyone who has already participated in the democratic process. Your vote matters. And if you have not voted yet, I encourage you to cast your ballot at the É«½ç°É Vote Center, located in Lower Herrick.

Regardless of the election’s outcome, we will work diligently to assess the impact of the next administration’s policies on our community and the execution of our mission. We will also remain attentive to the election results in the Senate and House of Representatives, as those governing bodies set the nation’s legislative agenda. Over the next few days, I will meet with our student government, Faculty Council, members of the higher education community, and local leaders to hear their concerns and understand their perspectives.

The political divisions in this nation—apparent long before this election season—demonstrate that higher education is more important than ever. Our country needs liberal arts institutions such as Occidental, where students, faculty, staff, and College leadership work together to deepen our collective understanding of the world and our ability to improve it. We have a responsibility to prepare future leaders who are informed, compassionate, and courageous in addressing societal challenges, opportunities, and inequities.

Although elections have consequences, our values, our bedrock principles of inclusion and belonging, and our identity as a liberal arts college will not change. Every É«½ç°É student, faculty member, and staff member belongs here. As we head into our country’s next chapter, I have no doubt that the work we do together will continue to build Occidental into an institution of which we can all be proud—a place where we learn from each other and shape the future we collectively want to see.

President Stritikus