Dear Members of the Campus Community,
This is a dark day in the history of the United States of America.
Our United States of America.
The untenable scene unfolding in our nation’s capital is a blight upon our country and a literal assault on our democracy. Those who stormed the Capitol building do not represent the more than 330 million Americans who respect our country’s longstanding commitment to the peaceful transfer of power between those we elect to represent us. All of us.
What we are seeing today is the power of privilege at work. How many times over the past few weeks did we hear that something like this might happen, only to have destruction, desecration, injury, and more undertaken with what initially appeared to be impunity? How different is this response to the actions taken in response to Black Lives Matter protestors and other causes in which Americans have exercised their right to free speech and peaceful protest?
Our nation is imperfect. But it is founded on ideals and values that we continually strive to realize. We must hold strongly to those values, as those who have gone before us have done, and those who will come after us will do. We will not be diminished or devalued. We will not give into fear and intimidation. We will stand together to meet this moment and help our nation regain its footing, and heal the divide that has been sown throughout our country for far too long.
My thoughts are with you today as we come to terms with what today’s events mean for us here in America--and for our friends, families and loved ones around the world. I look forward to our continued work together to realize the very highest ideals to which we, as a nation and as a campus community, aspire.
Isiaah
Isiaah Crawford, Ph.D. | President