To the Stetson University community,
Thousands of University of Virginia students and faculty attended a candlelight vigil Wednesday night to “take back” their university after last weekend’s violence by neo-Nazi and white supremacist protestors. Photo/Sanjay Suchak, UVA Communications
Last night at the University of Virginia, thousands of students and faculty gathered together on the lawn of the university rotunda for a candlelight vigil to “take back” their university. It was clearly a moving moment as UVA attempts to heal itself. My remembrances of the courage and conviction of the civil rights marchers over 50 years ago came flooding back to me last night. Have we as a country and citizenry really made so little progress?
The vigil came just hours after a memorial service for Heather Heyer, the young woman killed this past weekend during the violence and clashes that have shocked and saddened the nation. We mourn with Charlottesville and Virginia for Heather’s death and the accident that killed two state troopers that same tragic day.
Today I express my support for Teresa Sullivan, president of the University of Virginia, and the entire UVA community during this difficult time. Stetson University stands with her and those all across our country in support of First Amendment rights, while condemning hate speech, bigotry and violence. I congratulate the Stetson University Student Government Association for its public support for the students of UVA and their solidarity with their counterparts.
In times of such national turmoil, it is important for individuals and institutions to stand up for their beliefs, speak up and speak out. Stetson University cannot remain silent in the face of public sentiments supporting racism, anti-Semitism, prejudice and intolerance.
Stetson’s mission is to provide a creative community where learning and values meet and there is no place at Stetson University for the hatred recently expressed in Virginia. Instead we choose to embrace the very best of America’s hard-won values, freedom, equality, justice and liberty for all.
Today I reaffirm for you, the Stetson Community, my commitment to continue our work toward our foundational goal to “Be a Diverse Community of Inclusive Excellence.”
Every day we have an opportunity to choose equity, to stand up for equity. Let no day pass without such affirmation.
Sincerely,
Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D.
President