Thank you for taking the time to reach out to me to share your views about the horrific violence, death, and destruction taking place in Israel and Gaza. I share your anguish.
Speaking on behalf of myself and Cabinet, we condemn the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas against civilians, which are resulting in serious injury and death to countless numbers of innocent Palestinians and Israelis. We also denounce the acts of terror that have been perpetrated in the region beyond the current moment, and we condemn such acts no matter where they take place in the world.
What can we do in response to the escalating conflict in Gaza to support our community?
Whenever a crisis occurs, our first responsibility is to ensure the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and faculty. We did so and will continue to support our campus community in the months ahead.
Some students, staff, faculty, and alumni have shared that they feel unsafe, both on and off campus, because of antisemitism, and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hatred. This concerns me deeply, and it should concern every one of us. It is our shared responsibility to embrace all members of our community and to ensure that we don’t allow strong emotions to result in us saying or doing anything that crosses the line into harassment or attacks on a person’s character.
We are an academic community committed to the goals of a liberal arts education. We cultivate thought leaders with the courage and knowledge to address complex problems. We provide them with the tools and the spaces to share different perspectives, to learn from each other, and to think about global crises not only in the current moment but also through the lens of history, and in the context of the future we are creating.
I believe in our community and the values that we share.
I believe we will continue to live up to them.
As we move forward in these uncertain times, let’s communicate with the intention to understand, and to share knowledge.
Let’s come together and provide care, create compassionate spaces for healing, act with kindness towards each other, and remember our shared humanity.
These are the values we are committed to as a liberal arts college. We all have a responsibility to ensure we uphold them.
