GSU Stands with Charlottesville

This weekend, America witnessed tragic acts of violence on the University of Virginia campus. White supremacists, neo-Nazis, and Ku Klux Klan members asserted messages of bigotry and fanaticism that are inimical to everything we stand for in higher education. The GSU community stands in solidarity with our university colleagues and all those in Charlottesville and elsewhere who are speaking out against hatred. We send condolences to the families of the three people who died and messages of support to those who were injured.

GSU is a safe and welcoming community rooted in diversity. True to our mission, we see our sense of inclusion as a great strength. Universities are public squares, places designed to encourage the free exchange of ideas. It is our responsibility to speak up when those who hate target the most vulnerable: African Americans, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, and LGBT individuals. We must confront and condemn racism and fascism every time they threaten.

Governors State University will never stand passively by and allow evil to win. We will speak out against hatred in all its insidious forms.