Message For Our Residential Community

Message For Our Residential Community

As you all are aware, the past several weeks have been extremely difficult and have impacted our community in a variety of ways. The murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Tony McDade have been heartbreaking, tragic, and unacceptable. These injustices are amplified, knowing they are far from individual acts of prejudice. Their deaths come as recent examples of systemic racism perpetuated by white supremacy in our nation that is present in daily life. All of this occurring during a time of a global pandemic that only highlights the inequities in our system and has distanced many individuals from their support mechanisms.

We recognize these tragedies have impacted all of you in unique ways. We echo the sentiments shared by President Rao in his message to the university community this weekend. Residential Life and Housing reached out to follow up with the residents who remain on campus but did not reach out to those of you who departed campus. We find it important to reach out to you now, to our Spring 2020 residential community. 

Residential Life and Housing values the celebration, exploration, and understanding among people, ideas and culture. This value is exemplified through creation of a safe and inclusive environment for all students to explore identities of self and others; promoting a life-long commitment to successful living in a global community; and ensuring that policies, programs, and services are inclusive and reflect the diversity of our community. 

Systemic racism is a direct threat on our Residents of Color and on our departmental values of Diversity and Inclusion. We must speak out against systemic racism because #BlackLivesMatter. Our values mean nothing if we do not speak out against injustice and commit to further advocacy and anti-racist efforts. This means, specifically, that those with privilege are called to learn, understand, think, and act. 

We in Residential Life and Housing are committed to moving forward together. We are committed to supporting our residents and actively seeking to make changes that will dismantle a system of injustice. We recognize this work is difficult and will take sustained commitment. We are all responsible for creating policies, practices, and programs informed by anti-racist ideology action and research.

 We are committed to making our residential experience more inclusive beyond the present news cycle. We will do this through additional opportunities for staff and students to engage, including: continued dialogue opportunities for staff and students, additional training opportunities for staff, and sharing resources for advocacy. We will hold each other accountable to keep moving forward and pushing for change.  

We are here to support and care for you. We are recommitted to our mission of striving to provide safe, inclusive, and well-maintained communities. You are a valued member of the campus community and we are glad you are a part of our residential experience. 

 

Sincerely,

Residential Life and Housing

 

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