UPDATE: The July 11 reflection event originally scheduled for the BCC has been moved to Benton Chapel.
The Vanderbilt community is invited to come together Monday, July 11, at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center to reflect on the recent violent deaths of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota and recognize the impact of recent violence on our community. We will gather at 11:30 a.m.
University officials began on Thursday to organize an opportunity for our community to share our thoughts about race, police interactions and violence in any form, as well as to consider the difficult questions that we all share about how to constructively respond to such tragedies. Thursday evening five police officers were killed in Dallas, Texas.
On Friday morning in a post on the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion website, Vice Chancellor Hill wrote, “We need to step back, reflect and ask: what can we at Vanderbilt and in our nation do to make communication, respect, understanding, dialogue and inclusion stronger? For all of us, working on answers together will be important and must be a priority during the months ahead.”
We look forward to hearing your thoughts and feelings about recent events as we come together to support one another through these painful times.
Food and refreshments will be available at the Black Cultural Center for those who wish to take their lunch hour to attend the gathering.
In the meantime, please know that the resources of the Psychological and Counseling Center (615-322-2571), the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center (615-322-2524), and the Office of the University Chaplain and Religious Life (615-322-2457) are here for anyone who wishes or needs to talk.
Susan R. Wente
Provost
Mark Bandas
Dean of Students