Our Community Commitments
January 17, 2024
Dear Rutgers Community,
Daily indignities and other acts of hate—from vandalism and graffiti to harmful interpersonal interactions—can disrupt living, learning, and working environments and harm students, faculty, and staff. As tensions rise from every angle, local, national, and global, how we as a community respond will make all the difference.
Join us at noon today for the “Hate in the U.S.” virtual webinar. Learn about the uncomfortable fact that hate, both expressions (speech) and incidents (violence and vandalism), is on the rise.
There are many ways to meet this moment, but not all are productive. I am excited to share our community commitments that challenge us all to meet this moment with humanity. This is what it means to come together:
- Reject all forms of bigotry and hatred.
- Resist and disrupt bigotry in the moment.
- Recognize efforts to dehumanize others.
- Reach out to the person impacted and affirm their humanity.
Visit the Reject Hate website to learn more about each commitment and access resources to combat hate. In moments of heightened conflict, we individually and collectively demonstrate our commitment to aspirational values like diversity, equity, and inclusion, which are easier to support in the abstract but sometimes require uncomfortable work to live up to.
Institutionally, we are committed to building an inclusive community. The university-wide speaker series "Navigating Tensions, Affirming Community" and documentary series "Reject Hate" are opportunities to gather, reflect, and grow. Do your part, engage. Listen to a speaker. View a documentary. Most importantly, commit to moving beyond proximity to build community.
To stay informed, visit diversity.rutgers.edu, join our mailing list, and follow us on social media @RUDiversity.
In service,
Enobong (Anna) Branch, PhD
Senior Vice President for Equity and Professor of Sociology