Caring for Ourselves and Our Communities

Dear members of the WWU community,

Over the last weeks, we have witnessed bomb threats targeting students, faculty, and staff at historically Black colleges and universities across the country, as well as continued acts of antisemitism, anti-Black and anti-Asian racist violence and hate crimes, and the targeting of transgender people. The impact of these acts, magnified by the already heavy burden of the last two years of pandemic isolation and loss, is having a profound cumulative effect on many in our communities.

Please know that we and all of Western’s leadership team cares about you and the impact of such occurrences on each of you, and on your families. These ongoing tragedies are a painful reminder of the work we must continue to do at Western. We continue to work diligently on identifying, addressing, and changing systemic injustice and deepening our ADEI work on campus. We acknowledge that this is hard work; we are committed to moving forward together to provide a more inclusive environment in which to live, learn, and work.

Even when we are thousands of miles away from places like Washington, D.C., St. Paul, Minnesota, McMinn County, Tennessee, or Phoenix, Arizona, the harmful impacts on students, staff, and faculty in our Western community can be significant. We are writing not with the illusion that an email can change the impact of these horrors, but in recognition of the heavy feelings of sadness, fear, anger, and frustration that acts of hate – both physical and in policy – are having on people at Western.

Western is a learning community dedicated to equity, justice, and preparing students to be engaged members of society. Within and across our departments, we ask you not to turn away, but to engage with the reality of attacks on life, democracy, and learning that are happening around the country. And we ask faculty and supervisors to be mindful of the many harms some students and colleagues are experiencing. Flexibility with assignment deadlines and overarching compassion toward one another are critical.

When we adopted the Okanagan Charter in fall 2021, we made a commitment to embed health and wellbeing into all aspects of campus culture. To do this, we must also center social justice and healing in our work.

Acts of hate and bias have no place at Western. We encourage you to report incidents of bias and discrimination to our Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance, which conducts investigations, and to our Bias Response Team, which supports people who have experienced incidents of bias.

Mental health support is available for students through the Counseling and Wellness Center, and for employees through the Employee Assistance Program. Students may also want to reach out to Multicultural Student Services, LGBTQ+ Western, and the many clubs and organizations which support student activism and care.

Many of you are engaging in events here at Western to honor, celebrate, and learn more about Black excellence. We are grateful to our students, staff, and faculty who are organizing these events. We also draw your attention to these specific support and educational conversations:

· Community care spaces hosted by Multicultural Student Services, Counseling and Wellness, and LGBTQ+ Western via Zoom on February 18 and in the Multicultural Center on February 28 (details to come).

· Trans Tea discussion of anti-trans legislation and gender euphoria on February 15.

· Black in Bellingham: Our Story Our Voices on February 22 and 23.

· Discussion on voting rights with the AS Office of Civic Engagement on February 22.

In the midst of these painful circumstances, we are holding on to hope. In doing so, we encourage our community to extend compassion and care to one another, recognize the struggles and impacts our communities experience, and act on our shared values of equity and justice. We are fortunate to be part of a caring community and urge you to join us in fostering an ethic of compassion, care, and collaboration in all that we do.

With Gratitude,

Sabah Randhawa, President

Brent Carbajal, Provost

Melynda Huskey, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services

Joyce Lopes, Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs

Donna Gibbs, Vice President for University Relations and Marketing

Kim O’Neill, Vice President for University Advancement