Message from LLE Director on Asian Community Solidarity

23 March 2021

To LLE staff, students, faculty, and colleagues:

In a recent message to the University community, President Sarah Mangelsdorf, Chief Diversity Officer Mercedes Ramírez Fernández, and Vice Provost for Global Engagement Jane Gatewood expressed the University’s solidarity with the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities who have experienced a drastic increase in violence and acts of hatred. Their words are compelling and motivate us to express our solidarity with all victims of racism and misogyny that remain alive today.

Some of our LLE staff and students have revealed that their feelings of being targeted and unsafe have significantly worsened due to the recent increase of hate crime toward the AAPI communities. In particular, they are saddened and angry to witness the recent murder of eight people, including six Asian women, in Atlanta and the videos of violence directed to the AAPI community on social media. These ongoing instances of hatred and bigotry in the U.S. have deeply disturbed the lives of our friends and colleagues and have NO place in our or any community. We stand with our AAPI colleagues and we are fortunate to have them as wonderful contributors to the LLE family.

This frightening situation has prompted them to feel vulnerable and to worry about their children in school and within the University and Rochester community. This is unacceptable and it is our role as members of a diverse society to denounce any form of discrimination toward people due to their ethnicity, race, gender, or sexual identity. As we strive to be a diverse Laboratory and University that reflects the diversity in our society, we all need to rise together to condemn any show of such hatred and violence.

It is important that we do not let the actions of a few destroy the strong sense of community that we enjoy in our beautifully diverse society. The University Counseling Center is a resource for students dealing with concerns over the rise of hate crimes and violence against AAPI communities, while the Employee Assistance Program is a resource for faculty and staff. We draw your attention to a special event on Wednesday, March 24, entitled One Community Gathering: Recent Hate Crimes Against Asians and Asian Americans and co-sponsored by the Paul J. Burgett Intercultural Center, the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, and the University Counseling Center.

In solidarity,

Michael Campbell
LLE (former) Director, Laboratory for Laser Energetics

Terrance J. Kessler
LLE Diversity Manager