Community Gathering

My heart is breaking for our community.

This is deeply troubling and not normal.

We have federal agents in our neighborhoods.

We have smoke bombs on our streets and chemical irritants spraying in people’s faces. 

We are hearing and seeing our neighbors and residents dying.

We are witnessing a level of violence that is terrifying—the kind we never imagined seeing here.

The kind we have watched unfold elsewhere in the world.

And we continue to hear from our own students, staff and faculty as well as fellow Minnesotans—especially those in our immigrant communities and communities of color—that they are afraid to leave their homes.

We all feel the impacts of these events across our University community.

This is affecting us directly at the University of Minnesota.

This is not a way to learn.

This is not a way to live.

It is, however, our reality right now.

A reality where our students, their parents, our faculty, our staff and our alumni are telling me they are fearful, sad, angry and confused.

I share all those feelings, and I take them very seriously. 

I’ve been listening deeply to you.

And I hear you.

Your safety—both on and around our campuses, both physical and emotional—is my priority.
 
While we cannot solve all the problems that need solving, there is so much we can do—especially when we work together. 

All across the University of Minnesota, we are leaning into our shared values of inclusion, community, belonging and working toward safety. 

You can count on my leadership team and I to continue:

• Providing spaces like this to bring people together and hold space for all of our emotions.
  
  
• Developing security protocols
  
  
• Offering flexible learning accommodations to support our students in this moment.
  
  
• Communicating what we know and what we don’t know, what we can control and what we can’t control so you have information and resources to support your safety and well-being.
  

We ask for care for one another and a commitment to seek understanding and healing.

Our shared path forward—across our city and state—prioritizes safety, dignity and a respect for the people who call Minnesota home.

You can also count on us to honor the legacy of Alex Jeffrey Pretti by living as he did: caring for this community.

I invite all of us gathered here today to join in this effort.

As an alumni, Alex was one of our own.

A 2011 graduate of the University’s College of Liberal Arts, he worked as a nurse and lived out the ideals of his profession—caring and advocating for others—up until the moment he died.

What we’re experiencing right now isn’t normal.

Violence in our streets is never acceptable.

I join others in the call for deescalation, transparency and prioritizing humanity, safety and dignity for all.

Whatever it is you are feeling—all the emotions are welcome here.

And when you have these emotions, remember: you are not alone.

Your University community is right here with you. 

When you don’t have the strength, lean into this large community of fellow students, staff and faculty. 

Because together, we are strong. 

We are resilient, and we will get through this together.

I am so proud of the ways I see our students, faculty and staff stepping up to help each other—organizing rides, donating food, checking in on one another.

This showing of community is who we are.

Together, as one University of Minnesota, we can be a light in this very dark time—living out our values to improve lives in our communities and throughout Minnesota, the nation and the world.