After President Michael R. Lovell announced a new President’s Commission on Racial Equity (CORE) at the June 17 Racial Injustice Town Hall, about 250 people – faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members – indicated their willingness and eagerness to take action to eliminate the injustices that exist on our campus.
Since then, two co-chairs for the commission have been named:
Dr. Howard Fuller is a recently retired distinguished professor of education and founder/director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning.
Fuller is an outspoken advocate and activist for educational opportunities. He joined the university more than 40 years ago as associate director for the Educational Opportunity Program from 1979-83; he later founded the ITL in 1995.
Throughout his career, Fuller has been a staunch promoter of school choice and a passionate champion for the equitable education of Black children. In addition to his positions at Marquette, he also served as superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, senior fellow in the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, secretary of Wisconsin’s Department of Employment Relations, and director of the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services.
Kristine (Kris) Rappé is a trustee emerita and retired senior vice president and chief administrative officer at Wisconsin Energy Corporation.
Rappé served on the Marquette Board of Trustees from 2005 – 17. She has extensive experience in serving Milwaukee-area nonprofit organizations and has served on the boards of Waterstone Financial, Inc.; Catholic Financial Life; Boys and Girls Clubs; Seton Catholic Schools; Froedtert Health System; Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Milwaukee; Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin; United Performing Arts Fund; and United Way. She has also served as co-chair of both the UPAF and United Way community campaigns. A member of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, Rappé has received the Sacagawea Award from Professional Dimensions, YWCA Woman of Distinction Award and TEMPO Mentor Award.
“After several meetings I’ve had with Howard and Kris over the past few weeks, I know they are both eager to begin the tough and necessary work needed for CORE’s success,” President Lovell said. “With coordination from Dr. William Welburn, vice president for inclusive excellence, a team has already begun an assessment of existing internal studies, reports and progress at Marquette dating back to 2008, which will help inform CORE’s mission, objectives and membership structure.”
CORE will begin working on an internal assessment this month; Watch Marquette Today for an update with concrete next steps in September.
