A message to the Penn Bioengineering community from BE leadership:
Dear BE Nation,
We wanted you to know that we in BE fully stand behind and reiterate the message from President Gutmann in full support of our Black students, postdocs, staff, colleagues, and friends.
As noted by President Gutmann, we all are feeling outrage, anger, grief, and myriad other emotions. We are at a loss to comprehend and to process the magnitude and implications of the brutality, oppression, and injustice that have come to light once again following the horrific event of George Floyd’s murder.
Several students and colleagues have reached out expressing their desires to contribute actively to effect a positive and progressive change. Our President Gutmann and Provost Pritchett have summarized some of the Penn initiatives towards our local communities in their message linked above. Numerous others are proactively contributing large and small. While we may not agree on many things, we can all agree that a lot remains to be done, and it will take time and sustained effort and commitment on our part. We are committed to the cause: to effect continual and progressive change for nurturing equality and cultural sensitivity as we build a diverse academic ecosystem, and this includes BE, Penn, and our surrounding community. It is our commitment to our Black friends and colleagues.
We take this opportunity to share this article sent by Denise Lay: Answering the Question, ‘What Can I Do?’ and this document compiled by BE Ph.D. student Lasya Sreepada created to share resources and opportunities for members of the University of Pennsylvania community to help their local communities.
Also, here are a few resources to help cope:
Racial Justice and Equity (from Bucketlisters): A listing of resources, organizations and actions, including Philadelphia specific organizations.
Coping with Racial Trauma (recommended by Penn’s Counseling and Psychological Services [CAPS]): A mental, emotional, physical and spiritual toolkit for coping with racial trauma which provides a window into the personal cost of systemic racism, discrimination and inequality.
Mostly and immediately, we write this note to reiterate that we stand with and support our Black students, postdocs, staff, colleagues, and friends in this difficult period.
Sincerely yours,
Undergraduate Chair Andrew Tsourkas
Graduate Chair Yale Cohen
Department Chair Ravi Radhakrishnan