The following is a statement President Daniele Struppa sent to the Chapman University community on Thursday, March 18.
The Chapman University community is saddened by the recent and horrific shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women. This tragedy appears to be symptomatic of the much larger tragedy in our county as hate against Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities has risen alarmingly, with a 1,900 percent increase since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We at Chapman stand in solidarity. We denounce the racism, xenophobia, bigotry and violence inflicted upon AAPI communities. In fact, just this week, before the tragic events in Atlanta, I shared a powerful message written by Associate Director, Office of Church Relations Rev. Cisa Payuyo and Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, Subject Librarian for Art and Film & Media Arts, Leatherby Libraries Annie Tang in solidarity with our Asian American and Pacific Islander community. We’ve also shared resources in Our Voices and other channels to reach as many people as we can.
Together, we can do our part to combat the racism, bigotry and violence that is threatening the fabric and safety of our communities.
Please know that our campus community is here to support you. The Cross Cultural Center has shared resources to educate, advocate, and report against anti-AAPI hate, racism and bias, and Assistant Professor in Attallah College of Educational Studies Cathery Yeh worked in collaboration with local and state leaders to create an online resource to promote a community-centered response to Anti-Asian violence.
