To the UConn Community:

As your president for seven days and faculty at UConn for 12 years, I place student well-being and success as my top priority.

Given discussions that have been taking place over the last several days among members of the university community, mainly on social media, I’m writing to you today about sexual assault and intimate partner violence on our campuses.

As you know, UConn cannot (and would not) discuss individual students or specific cases publicly. But there is a great deal we can say more broadly. First and foremost: I want you to know that the health, safety, and well-being of all of our students is our highest priority. UConn abhors sexual violence in all its forms and does its best to provide victims with compassionate care, resources, and much-needed support in the face of their trauma.

We also have a solemn and serious obligation to do all we can to combat, prevent, and address sexual assault in our community through the most effective strategies. We want to eradicate sexual violence. But policies and procedures alone will not achieve this. We need to work together to continually shape a culture on our campuses that is rooted in respect, awareness, supporting one another, and an extreme intolerance towards any form of sexual violence. Because our population is ever-changing, this work is never-ending and we can only be successful by working together.

No one should stand alone. To me, that is the unresolved question for our university: “What more must we do to support victims and increase education and awareness throughout our community?”

This question touches all of us, and I will need your help.  In the same manner with which I participated in the President’s Task Force for Mental Health and Wellness and the Climate Action Task Force, I have asked Dean of Students Elly Daugherty to join me in bringing together students, staff, and faculty to assess our current educational programs for students (including orientation and online trainings), how we support victims of sexual violence, and the university’s processes regarding sexual assault and intimate partner violence. Determining what more we can do will be an essential question for me and my administration.

Finally, I want to mention that, in addition to serving as administrators at UConn, many of us are also parents. The safety and security we want for our students is the same safety and security we would want for our own families. Every student should know that you are not alone. I care about you and am here to listen or help in any way I can, as are many others at UConn.

For more information on resources and reporting sexual assault, harassment, stalking, and intimate partner violence at UConn, visit our Office of Institutional Equity website.

 

Sincerely,

Dr. Radenka Maric

Interim President | University of Connecticut
Office of the President: 860.486.2337

president@uconn.edu

Twitter: @UConnPresident

Instagram: @UConnPres

 

UConn is a great university.

But it’s more than that. A top-ranked research institution, with campuses and staff across Connecticut, built to inspire the global community that is UConn Nation. UConn’s talented students exceed expectations. Our expert researchers, faculty, and alumni drive Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (CIE) for a better tomorrow. We fuel the State’s economy and are committed to benefiting the greater good. This is UConn.

STUDENTS FIRST, UCONN ALWAYS.

 

UConn is committed to providing a safe, supportive environment on all our campuses and has a range of strategies and practices in place to further that mission.

The University cannot discuss specifics of any individual students or cases, but has a robust system to respond to reported incidents, combat sexual and interpersonal violence and harassment, and provide support.

UConn will always do its best in terms of education and awareness; holding those found responsible for misconduct accountable; focusing on the impact of trauma on mental health; and responsiveness to survivors.

UConn uses a trauma-informed approach – among best practices advised nationwide by experts in the field — that gives agency to impacted students by letting them decide whether they wish to participate in an investigation or hearing. The University honors their wishes and if they decline, it only proceeds in limited and specific circumstances.

However, even in matters where a student does not want to pursue an investigation, UConn still takes responsive or preventative actions, and always prioritizes support services. Law enforcement will pursue investigations when they receive a report of an incident, with UConn Police having jurisdiction on campus and Connecticut State Police handling off-campus reports.

First and foremost, UConn is committed to a safe environment in which all members of its community are respected and receive whatever services may be helpful in their individual circumstances. This has been and will remain a foundational principle of our University.

In considering campus report statistics, it is helpful to know that interpretation of that data varies greatly depending on the source used. Helpful information can be found in this report on the University’s UConn Today news website, which also contains links to the reports.

The most reliable indicator of sexual violence reporting over time on UConn’s campuses is found in annual federally mandated Clery reports. Separately, UConn’s Office of Institutional Equity’s annual report to the state has far broader parameters and therefore larger numbers. They include incidents with no connection to UConn, incidents that occurred before the reporting year, or other circumstances that prevent UConn from intervening in an enforcement role. These reports are critical to help us provide support, but are not an indicator of on-campus single-year incidents.

Over the first two days of Black History Month, seventeen Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) received bomb threats. Unfortunately, such threats are not new; this year, alone, there have been more than two dozen such threats to HBCUs and Black and African American Cultural Centers across the country. These threats are clearly intended to intimidate Black and African American members of our community; they are clearly intended to discourage institutions of higher education from having tough conversations about systemic racism. We condemn these cowardly acts in the strongest terms possible. We stand in full support and recognition of our HBCU colleagues and institutions.

We support law enforcement efforts to apprehend the individuals responsible for these threats. However, it is incumbent upon us to point out that these threats are not simply isolated incidents committed by a few rogue individuals; rather, they are part of a larger system of everyday violence in the United States enabled by a society comfortable with notions of white supremacy. Such violence is committed by people who feel that simply celebrating the contributions and culture of the Black and African American community is a threat to their existence. To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s eulogy for four Black girls killed in a church bombing, we must not be concerned merely about who sent these threats, but about “the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced” these threats.

To our brothers and sisters who have been threatened directly, please know that today you do not walk alone. We remain committed to unapologetically dismantling systems of white supremacy. We remain committed to celebrating Black and African American culture. To the members of our community who feel the emotional burden of these senseless threats, please know that we support you, and that the University has several resources available to you:

• Antiracism Resources
• The Cultural Centers and Programs
• UConn Africana Institute
• UConn’s Safety, Support, and Wellness Resources
• Support for those targeted by harassment or violence:
  • SHaW Mental Health Services
  • UConn’s Faculty, Staff, Student and Alumni Resources

We also invite everyone to participate in Black History Month programming, including the African American Cultural Center’s (AACC) opening ceremony featuring Civil Rights attorney Benjamin Crump and Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd. This program is tomorrow, February 3, at 6 PM. Register HERE.  The UConn Foundation will also host Crystal Emery to discuss racism as an inhibitor to freedom. We cannot all be free until we all recognize that Black lives matter.

 

The Office for Diversity and Inclusion