March 15, 2019

Colleagues:

It is with great sadness that I write today as Colorado State University extends both our shared sorrow and our thoughts for healing to those affected by the tragic Mosque shootings in New Zealand. Once again, hatred against an idea or belief has embodied itself as violence against individual human beings, likely unknown to those who wielded the weapons. Once again, we ask ourselves what we have to offer against such blind and unreasoning hate and rage. And once again, we have only one answer: We have our hearts, and we have each other. Within a community dedicated to the primacy of ideas, of thought, any physical attack against any mental construct is an affront. But in a nation founded upon the principle of freedom of religious belief, attacks against those who exercise their right to worship – wherever they occur – should be seen as an attack against every fiber of who we believe ourselves to be.

There will be numerous members of our Colorado State community who will be deeply affected by these events. So, please, extend your hearts to those around you, offer support to those members of our community particularly impacted by this tragedy, and let them know that no one stands alone against such evil. We stand together and our strength is in each other.

Be well and take care of each other.

– tony

Dr. Tony Frank
President