Letter from the Dean: Reflections on Violence in Our Society [March 19, 2021 – Parker, CO] Dear RVUCOM community, Violence happens in our world every day. Hate crimes that are motivated by ethnicity, race, gender, or sexuality happen all too frequently and they are not talked about nearly enough, not dealt with nearly enough, not prosecuted, not aired, not discussed, and not examined nearly enough. The purpose of a hate crime is to inflict larger damage, to increase the blast radius and damage beyond the explosion or gunshot itself. It is about violence, but not just about physical violence – it encompasses the instilling of fear and augments the sense of intimidation a particular community feels well beyond the ones who are specifically targeted. Violence is designed to dehumanize and dehumanization thrives in silence and we must do better. We must acknowledge, honestly, that these things happen in our world. We must acknowledge that hate and intolerance live in our world. We must acknowledge this, and we have to talk about it because acknowledgment and recognition are the first steps to creating a space that is safe and inclusive. This past week, another occurrence of dehumanization once again rocked our […]
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