Jun 3, 2020 By: mbrennan
Last week’s tragic death of George Floyd has forced us all to confront the realities of hate, discrimination and racial violence as real and present dangers.
Yeshiva University offers our deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd and our unwavering support to the African American community. We stand with the victims of social injustice and with the families of all those who have been senselessly killed. In the words of Dr. Ari Berman, President of Yeshiva University, “We are all responsible for one another, and we need to join together to build a more kind and equitable society rooted in social justice and the sanctity of each individual.”
On behalf of the YU community, Dr. Selma Botman, provost and vice president of academic affairs, and Dr. Danielle Wozniak, vice provost and the Dorothy and David I. Schachne Dean of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, offer these thoughts to help turn our shared pain into promise and progress.
“The murder of George Floyd is a tragic reminder that the sacred American commitment to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is maddeningly out of reach for our fellow citizens of color. Let us mourn the injustices enabled by racism across our nation while we commit ourselves to the righteous struggle for social justice, grounded in an abiding respect for difference and a humbling recognition that this effort remains as yet unattainable for all Americans.”
—Dr. Selma Botman
“As a nation, too many of our brothers and sisters have reached the horrific and inescapable moment where they simply can bear no more. No more harassment, no more fear, no more anxiety, no more degradation, no more suspicion, no more murder. This is the time when every citizen must say, we too have had enough. We too must hold Dr. King’s vision of a unified nation in which the color of one’s skin does not determine the outcome of one’s life. We are all tasked with changing the face of our nation and the fate of our citizens.”
—Dr. Danielle Wozniak