Posted June 4, 2020

As Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, I would like to take this opportunity to express my strong support for the May 31st memo sent out by President Caslen and Associate Dean Tracey Weldon, in her current role as interim Chief Diversity Officer. I also want to express my support for those seeking more perfect justice in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd at the hands of members of the Minneapolis police force. This intolerable incident has brought deep pain to our nation and has once again reminded us of the ongoing injustices faced by members of the African American community, who have also been hit hard by higher rates of illness and death from the COVID-19 virus, as well as pandemic-related job losses.

We all know that achieving equal justice and full racial equality for all in our nation is not the work of a day; but it must be the work of everyday. We must listen, and we must act. We must vote. We must find allies. We must build coalitions. We must demand better training, better pay, and greater accountability for law enforcement officers. We must support our health care workers and other first responders and work to bring better health care to less fortunate communities. We must provide better educational opportunities regardless of race or place. And, as this moment has made plain, we must demand racial justice today, tomorrow and every day, knowing that by doing so we can bend that long moral arc of the universe toward equal justice for all.

Lacy K. Ford
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
University of South Carolina