Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd. We speak their names with sorrow and with anger. In recent weeks, we confront once again the fact that in America some people so radically devalue African Americans that their lives can be just brutally destroyed. The precarity of black lives has a very long history in this country, but now technology makes it possible for people everywhere to witness violent injustice. We witness, and we are disgusted; we witness, and we are enraged; we witness, and we mourn. Black Lives Matter.
As a historically white institution, Wesleyan has struggled with our own history of racism. Over the last several decades, thanks to the work of activist students, faculty, staff and alumni, we have become more aware of the ways in which the ideology of white supremacy has affected this history and our own present. We try to build a different kind of community – one in which racism, hate and intolerance have no place. This is an ongoing project, and we re-dedicate ourselves to it.
Our Wesleyan education includes the aspiration to act “for the good of the world.” Rejecting hatred and the violence it inspires, we can engage with others to construct alternatives to poverty, marginalization and prejudice. We witness and we choose how to respond; let us do so in ways that prefigure the kind of world we hope to build.
With compassion and solidarity,
Michael Roth, President
President’s Cabinet
David Baird, Vice President for Information Technology
Amin Abdul-Malik Gonzalez, Vice President and Dean of Admissions
Anne Martin, Chief Investment Officer
Sean McCann, Chair of the Faculty
Nicole Lynn Stanton, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Andrew Y. Tanaka, Treasurer and Senior Vice President
Michael Whaley, Vice President for Student Affairs
Alison P. Williams, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion
Frantz Williams, Jr. Vice President for Advancement
David Winakor, General Counsel and Secretary of the University
Renell Wynn, Vice President for Communications