Dear UMPI Community,
Like many of you, I am shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic news of the shooting involving Charlie Kirk. Our thoughts go out to his family and loved ones in the wake of this senseless act of violence.
This tragedy follows a disturbing and continuing pattern of campus-related shootings across the country, including recent ones at schools and universities in Colorado, Minnesota, Florida, and Tennessee. It is heartbreaking to witness yet another act of violence in spaces where students and educators should feel most safe, spaces that exist to foster learning, reflection, and community.
As we reflect on this moment, it is impossible not to remember the profound tragedy of September 11, 2001, twenty-four years ago today. That day, the nation witnessed the devastating cost of violence carried out in the name of ideology, and we pledged never to forget. At its core, 9/11 reminded us that violence—whatever its form, whatever its target—rends the fabric of our shared humanity and imperils the democratic values we hold most dear.
And yet, in recent months and years, we have seen lives taken in schools, on college campuses, in places of worship, and in public spaces—places that should always be sanctuaries of safety and belonging. Each of these tragedies deepens our collective grief and underscores how urgently we must reject violence in any form as a way of engaging with one another.
As a campus community, we must stand together in rejecting violence and fear. Our strength lies in our ability to engage in difficult conversations with respect, to disagree without dehumanizing, and to embody the values of courage, compassion, and care that unite us.
There is no place for violence in America—political or otherwise. Let us recommit ourselves to the work of building a community, and a country, where dialogue, not violence, defines our future.
