Dear Colleagues, Students, and Friends—

 

The recent senseless and heartbreaking death of Mr. George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, MN is infuriating and unacceptable. We stand in solidarity with the Floyd family and the Black community who have been and continue to be victims of systemic injustices in the United States and around the world. In the College of Humanities at the University of Arizona, we strongly believe in, and will continue to advocate for, an equitable and respectful environment for all faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends, as well as for anti-racist efforts in the wider world. Systemic injustice requires systemic change. The many communities of the College of Humanities will continue to work for a college, a university, a nation and a world in which “justice for all” is not just a noble ideal, but a profound fact of everyone’s lived experience.

 

With sadness, anger, and hope for the future,

 

Alain-Philippe Durand

Dean, College of Humanities

University of Arizona