The Task Force included members from many of our campus' constituents. Each stakeholder group (FEC, ASPC and Staff Council) nominated three representatives to serve on the Task Force. Members from executive staff and the Board of Trustees also served in the Task Force.
Ben Keim, associate professor of Classics; chair of the faculty
Brent Carbajal, interim vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college
Bri Sérráno, assistant dean and director, Queer Resource Center
Charles Liu, sophomore, Psychological Science major
Claudio Castillo, senior, Computer Science major
Dan O’Leary, Carnegie Professor of Chemistry
Eleanor Brown, James Irvine Professor of Economics
Eric Abelev, chief communications officer
Erica Tyron, director, Smith Campus Center and Student Media
G. Gabrielle Starr, president
Jack Long, trustee
Janet Benton, board chair
Jenn Wilcox Thomas, trustee
Milo Slevin, sophomore, Environmental Analysis major
Tricia Avant, academic coordinator and gallery manager of Art
These members played a central role in shaping the initiative and committed time regularly throughout the academic year. David Maxwell met with stakeholder leadership groups in April 2025 to offer guidance on representative selection and to answer questions about the process.
A crucial component of the initiative was establishing clear communication loops so everyone, including faculty, staff, and students, understood how their input was used and why decisions were made. This didn't mean everyone agreed with every decision. However, this initiative committed to ensuring those decisions were transparent, explained, and communicated clearly, so we all better understood and trusted the process itself, even when we disagreed with outcomes. Ultimately, this initiative was about creating accountability for decision-making, sharing the rationale behind those decisions, and ensuring that concerns and inputs were genuinely heard and meaningfully considered.