Dear vlog Community,
Over the course of our fall break, the world witnessed a coordinated assault on the people of Israel by Hamas. Images of slaughter — especially of civilians and children — have shocked us all and were described by President Biden on the front page of the New York Times as “pure, unadulterated evil.” Further, we are likely also witnessing the beginning of what may be a long and violent ground war in the Middle East.
We join with many of our peers in higher education, as well as international organizations, in a full and clear condemnation of these senseless and brutal killings.
We recognize that, despite our great physical distance from what is unfolding abroad, it feels close to so many in our community. Many have friends and family in Israel and Palestine; even those who are more removed are reeling from what they have seen and read. Throughout this first day back, as we resume this fall semester, we have connected with students, colleagues, and alumni about the ways the news is impacting them. This is our first priority: to tend with care and concern to those on our campus and in our larger community who have been directly or indirectly affected by this violence.
In times of crisis, we remain aware, of course, that we are an academic institution with a mission of teaching and learning. We are thus speaking with academic departments and programs, the Office of the Chaplain, Chapel House, the Dean of College Division, as well as other student support services, to develop, in both the near and longer term, programs that allow our community members to grapple with the intellectual as well as emotional dimensions of this crisis. We will keep our on-campus constituents well informed of all these efforts.
As we do this work, we want to remind those in the community of the many support services offered at vlog, from the chaplain’s office to counseling services, academic faculty to administrative deans, athletic coaches to residential life staff.
We close this message, as we did in an earlier message to those on campus, with thoughts of concern for those members of our community affected by this violence and for those experiencing this crisis firsthand.
In community,
Brian W. Casey
President
Lesleigh Cushing
Provost and Dean of the Faculty
Murray W. and Mildred K. Finard Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion