Dear Spartan Engineers,
I write to you today in sadness as I reflect on the recent events in Minneapolis, MN; Louisville, KY and around the nation. We have a country that is troubled by racism, intolerance and anger. Racism - overt or implicit - sadly, is part of our culture. We can be proud of many aspects of our culture - rugged individualism, creativity, the arts, a "can-do attitude", but we also must be shamed by the continued belief by too many that if "you don't look like me, you can't be trusted". That is just plain wrong. People are people regardless of where they come from or what their individual beliefs are.
Racism, against African Americans, has been rampant throughout our history - a left over legacy of the shame of slavery. Our beautiful university campus is on land that Native Americans once called their own. In recent decades, racism against people of Hispanic/Latinx heritage has risen as their proportion of our society has grown.
Recently, with the devastating impact of COVID-19, people of Asian ancestry have been discriminated against. COVID-19 is not a "Chinese disease", it is a virus that we need to battle with science and public health measures. While I am confident that, ultimately, we will defeat COVID-19, we need to continually battle racism and implicant bias.
As a society, as members of a university and the College of Engineering, we must rise above those who believe they are better than others because of the color of their skin, their access to education, or the many privileges that some of us have enjoyed in one form or another throughout our lives.
Our nation was founded by protesting injustice. Our institution was founded to provide a practical education to all citizens regardless of social class or economic conditions. We must continue to find ways to peacefully stand together to say, "No more…we demand better for ourselves, our children and our children's children". Many of you saw the graphic brutality of the death of George Floyd. Many of you have seen the demonstrations and riots of the past few days. Standing up for what is right does not mean violence, it means standing together to say "Enough is Enough!".
This Saturday, I had the privilege of walking with my daughter from Old Eastern High School in Lansing to the Michigan State Capitol Building in protest of the injustice experienced by people of color every day in America. This march was planned by two sophomores in high school - they and their friends, parents and kindred souls marched down Michigan Avenue to the sound of honking horns and thumbs up from strangers - people of all races, ethnicities and identification. It was a protest against injustice and a pledge for peace in our community, state and nation.
A video message from Kyle Foster in the College Diversity Programs Office and an essay by Theo Caldwell, assistant dean for Student Inclusion and Diversity in the College of Engineering, at https://www.egr.msu.edu/news/2020/06/08/essay-theo-caldwell
I know that Spartans are experiencing tremendous grief and outrage in addition to real threats to our health, safety and economic security. We need everyone to stay engaged as we navigate through unprecedented change at the university, in our state and country. Your voice matters and we cannot navigate this change without your participation and leadership. The college is here to support you by providing a safe space for you to share your concerns and we pledge to respond to your needs, as best as possible, in a thoughtful and strategic way. In the days, weeks and months to follow, I will continue to work with leadership in our college to discuss ways we can ensure your health and wellness while we continue to improve the climate for all. As we develop plans and programming, I will share that information. I welcome you to join us in those efforts and want to hear from you! Feel free to reach out to me directly to express your concerns, your hopes, your fears and ways in which you feel we can do better.
Best wishes,
Leo Kempel
Dean, College of Engineering