Yesterday I sent the following message to the campus community:
Dear friends,
As we prepare for Thanksgiving, we remind ourselves of all the things for which we are grateful. This is a time of year for connection, gratitude, and compassion—all much needed in these days of brutal conflict.
I believe more than ever that it is through openness to learning that we can find common ground. On many campuses, instead of searching for connection, people seem to be honing hate and gleeful intimidation. This will not happen at Wesleyan. Instead, we will learn together, acknowledging our differences. Whether this be through the study of a classic text, current events, or historical context, we will expand, not narrow, our understanding and our sympathies. Our faculty and staff are stepping up to offer guidance. We strive to find ways to comfort one another, to learn with one another, to generate hope for peace in a time of brutal war. I can’t think of a better place to be right now than here at Wesleyan.
I wish you all a peaceful holiday with family or friends. And I look forward to seeing you back on campus as we prepare to end the semester with boldness, rigor, and practical idealism.
Warm regards,
Michael Roth
Thank you. This is beautiful.
It resonates with both my personal mission statement, and that of my organization:
“Do better. Be better. Live better. Together.”
May we all aspire to learn to live together with peace, love, acceptance, tolerance, compassion, purpose and intent.
thanks for your never-ending support, much appreciated and not taken for granted
life here is difficult and most of us here wish for peace, understanding and to live in quiet surroundings