UMS Community Members,
A few hours ago a jury in Minnesota found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter for the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis. As a Black American, Floyd’s death literally under the knee of a white police officer sparked riots and unrest in cities throughout the country and around the world, leaving so many of us not only bewildered and angry, but also confronting the sad reality that Floyd’s case was but one of too many like it, not only before, but even since.
Tonight there can be sober relief that justice was done -- in this one case. But because we live in a country that professes justice for all, we still have work to do.
Work to understand and acknowledge implicit bias. Work to confront and combat ignorance. Work to fight and overcome, once and for all, the toxic pervasiveness of systemic racism in society that leaves so many disadvantaged or diminished in our criminal justice system, our workplaces, and even our own classrooms, research labs, and graduation stages.
Today’s guilty verdicts may bring some semblance of closure to George Floyd’s family and his community, but the work we must do together to achieve greater acceptance, understanding, equity, and inclusion must continue. The Imperative for Change message that I wrote last summer must remain a leadership focus for our university communities and all of their members.
And it’s a focus on more than race. Our broader diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts mean to root out every disadvantage and inequity that members of our community and society suffer, whether from inaccessible facilities, harmful gender, religious, or ethnic stereotypes, or even ignorance or resistance to change.
One simple step you can take on this journey is to join me and nearly 300 of our university colleagues who have already registered for the UMS TRANSFORMS session advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on Friday, April 23, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Your participation is both welcome and needed.
A century and a half ago, at a key moment near the end of the nation’s long struggle with itself over the tragic stain of slavery, Abraham Lincoln invited us to work together to bind up the nation’s wounds. Today, tonight, we have a key moment to start the work to turn justice for one into justice for all. I hope you’ll join me in the effort.
Sincerely,
