At UUFR’s congregational meeting in December 2021, the Board formed the Addressing Institutional Racism (AIR) Committee to assess UUFR through a diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) lens.  The Board is pleased to announce that after many months of study and analysis, AIR’s results and recommendations are in, and the report is available with many other documents of interest at the UUFR Member folder, found under Congregational Meetings/2023 Congregational Meetings.  

The report to the Board analyzed three distinct areas: 1) a review of written documents (including our website) to identify white supremacist language or codified procedures that may keep UUFR a primarily white institution, 2) statistical data and comments from the self-assessment Rubric on Racial Justice in UU Congregations conducted with key stakeholders and the congregation at large, and 3) results from the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI) completed by UUFR leadership and staff.  The Board is grateful to the many of you that participated in these efforts and to AIR for their tireless work to reach this point.  The full report compiles many comments captured during these efforts which describe how we see UUFR performance when we turn the DEIB lens to such varying themes as Communication and Welcoming, Religious Education, Worship, and our Financial, Hiring, and Facilities Policies.  

AIR has been invited to share their work and results with the congregation at an April 30, 2023, Town Hall meeting after service.  Becoming an anti-racism congregation is not something that a few people do in committee, and your input, feedback, energy, and involvement are very much desired.  Additional sessions to broaden the conversation are being scheduled to answer questions and facilitate discussion on this critical issue.  I hope you take the opportunity to review the report and attend the presentation and discussions on this important report.

On behalf of your Board,
Jessica Godreau
Member at Large