Additional Comments on Incident

MICHAEL K. YOUNG
President

February 12, 2016

Tuesday's incident of hate speech on Texas A&M University's campus was heartbreaking and a disappointment to not only me, but also to our students, faculty, staff and the entire Texas A&M University family.
 
It is our greatest responsibility to provide a safe environment that fosters the development of thoughts and ideas that will ultimately change the world and solve our great global challenges. The behavior that took place on our campus falls far short of these expectations and will not be tolerated. We are now in the process of an expedited investigation of the incident to enable us to take appropriate action as quickly as possible. We have also reached out and maintained contact with Uplift Education, the group whose students experienced this inappropriate exchange.

I have been deeply moved and encouraged by the collective response of our current and former students, faculty, staff, and community partners in strongly condemning such behavior as unacceptable on our campus. We have worked diligently for years to make Texas A&M a place that creates the best possible environment for all to grow and develop intellectually and socially. While it is clear from this week's events that our work is far from over, it is my firm belief that we have the necessary resources and the commitment to reach these goals.

We have been engaged in diversity programs and outreach that are student, faculty and community-led. Our Office of Diversity houses an extensive catalogue of campus initiatives that are indispensable to arming our students with the broad perspective so unique to institutions of higher education. We want to provide our students, faculty and staff an experience rich in perspectives and the opportunity to learn and grow from one another. We would also like to invite you to take part in our annual Campus Climate Conference March 9-10 for a dialogue on climate, inclusion and respect. http://campusclimate.tamu.edu/

While we are addressing the issue with a thorough police investigation and a code of conduct investigation within the Division of Student Affairs, we see this as an opportunity to engage in robust dialogue on civility, respect and responsibility. I challenge each one of you to foster an environment in which each one of us can live up to our greatest potential – learning, developing, and ultimately, thriving.

If you witness or experience a situation which you feel is inappropriate, please contact tellsomebody.tamu.edu. For more information about issues of civility, respect and inclusion at Texas A&M, visit http://stophate.tamu.edu/.

Michael K. Young