A message from Provost Susan Wente and Dean of Students Mark Bandas – July 8
Dear Vanderbilt Students,
As a reminder about information we shared Thursday in an email to you, the Vanderbilt community is invited to come together Monday, July 11, at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center to reflect on the recent violent deaths of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota and recognize the impact of recent violence on our community. Since Thursday’s email, five police officers were killed in Dallas, Texas.
Earlier this morning in a post on the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion website, Vice Chancellor Hill reflected, “We need to step back, reflect and ask: what can we at Vanderbilt and in our nation do to make communication, respect, understanding, dialogue and inclusion stronger? For all of us, working on answers together will be important and must be a priority during the months ahead.”
Our gathering on Monday will be an opportunity for our community to share our thoughts about race, police interactions and violence in any form, as well as to consider the difficult questions that we all share about how to constructively respond to such tragedies.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts and feelings about recent events as we come together to support one another through these painful times. We will begin to gather at 11:30 a.m on Monday.
Food and refreshments will be available at the Black Cultural Center for those who wish to take their lunch hour to attend the gathering.
In the meantime, please know that the resources of the Psychological and Counseling Center (615-322-2571), the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center (615-322-2524), and the Office of the University Chaplain and Religious Life (615-322-2457) are here for anyone who wishes or needs to talk.
Susan R. Wente, Provost, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Mark Bandas, Dean of Students, Associate Provost
Announcement made by Dean Bandas, Thursday, July 7
The entire Vanderbilt community is invited to come together to reflect on the recent violent deaths of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota. The gathering, which will be held at 11:30am on Monday, July 11, at the Bishop Joseph Black Cultural Center, will be an opportunity for our community to share our thoughts as we once again find ourselves questioning notions of race, difference, and the use of force by police in this country.
Please join on Monday as we come together to embrace our humanity and reject the violence experienced by Mr. Sterling, Mr. Castile, and so many others. Food and refreshments will be available at the Black Cultural Center for those who wish to take their lunch hour to attend the gathering.
In the meantime, please know that the resources of the Psychological and Counseling Center (615-322-2571), the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center (615-322-2524), and the Office of the University Chaplain and Religious Life (615-322-2457) are here for anyone who wishes or needs to talk.