Last updated June 12, 2020, update on action plan coming soon.

The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others have sparked grief, anger and tension around the country and within our community. These events, coupled with centuries of systemic racism, have also moved us to action.

MMC stands with BBSA to honor Black lives and fight injustice. While we know we are delayed, we wanted to ensure proper time for introspection, discussion and collaboration in our response. As future marketers, we know that:

• authentic campaigns begin with a diverse workforce,

• brands have a social responsibility to use their voices for good, and

• messages are only as strong as the actions supporting them.

Our responsibility - to promote causes not for profits but for the benefit of society, to use language that unites rather than divides, and to develop products that mirror the diverse people and needs of our population - should not be taken lightly. We have a major role to play, and our work begins now.

Below is a work-in-progress action plan for MMC.

1. Assess MMC's role in advancing DE&I and update materials, including our constitution and website, to reflect that role.
2. Elevate diverse voices at club events, ensuring equal representation, and encourage corporations to bring diverse recruiting teams onto campus / address DE&I in their company presentation.
3. Establish an annual scholarship for an underrepresented minority undergraduate student(s) pursuing a career in marketing.
4. Promote the importance of inclusive language by creating a messaging guide for Ross students that aggregates commonly misused phrases and appropriate nomenclature from diversity clubs.
5. Partner with faculty and staff to build DE&I more overtly into the marketing curriculum and on-campus programming.
6. Explore DE&I training options for membership and the board.
7. Create a DE&I position within the club focused on executing the action plan and continuing to develop and implement DE&I-related initiatives.
8. Update the MMC newsletter template to include a section devoted to articles / resources on multicultural marketing and highlighting POC-owned brands.
9. Support POC-owned businesses by ensuring that at least 25% of catering orders come from such businesses.

In the following weeks, MMC leadership will meet to solidify these actions and discuss tactical steps needed for implementation. We will also meet with other student diversity organizations, faculty and staff to align with broader University of Michigan efforts. We will update the community on progress: 1) at the end of July, 2) mid-September and 3) mid-January.

Together, let's stand, act, learn and unlearn, so that we may leave a lasting, positive impact on Ross and we may be the marketers of brands that say and do what is right.

In solidarity,

MMC Leadership Team

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