Dear COE Community,

This is a difficult time for many on campus. There has not been much messaging on our campus about the War in Gaza , and we sometimes struggle with finding the right words to express our commitment to each other.  As our campus takes measures to ensure everyone’s safety regarding the encampment at Memorial Quad, I was reminded through an exchange with a faculty member yesterday, that the ideas that are incubating in that space right now, though difficult, contain the very concepts that bring us together in our core mission here as a College of Education. We are united by our shared value of education.

The actions happening now on our campus are students experimenting with voice, engaging in dialogue, and exploring the dimensions of injustice. It is our job as faculty and staff to support our students in even these most complex of learning environments. Our role is to assist in creating spaces where new knowledge can occur as growth, and in a way that does not cause harm to a broader community of friends, colleagues, and allies. We assist in finding ways to hold what unites us when it is often more enticing to examine what keeps us apart. Not everyone feels safe at this moment, so fostering a community where our students and colleagues alike feel supported, valued, and cared for is critical to our COE community.

Again, I recall the exchange with the faculty member yesterday as I encourage us to view even this difficult time as an opportunity for us to sit among the students and focus on our shared values. Listening deeply to our students and being ready to support them as they explore the boundaries of their own learning is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our connection as a community. 

With gratitude,

Laura Lee