Updates for the President: Current Events

Today, we honor the life and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As a Baptist minister and social activist, Dr. King led the U.S. civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968.

The 2021 fall semester is coming to an end, and we are encountering an increase in the number of COVID-19 infections due in part to the Delta and Omicron variants.

Our city is quickly seeing an increase in positive cases of COVID-19, due to the Delta and Omicron variants that continue to spread.

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and soon many of us will be spending the holiday with friends and loved ones.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the horrific events of September 11, 2001, when almost 3,000 people lost their lives during the terrorist attacks at the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and aboard United Airlines Flight 93.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. Many college students were not yet born on that day — but in the weeks, months and years that followed, their families and neighborhoods felt the impact of those attacks.

As we begin to welcome our students, faculty and staff to our campus, I want to take a moment to recognize and reflect on the devastation that occurred in Haiti recently.

Today we observe Juneteenth, the oldest national commemoration of the emancipation of slaves in the United States.

We braced for a verdict and accompanying civil unrest that mirrored the protests that took place last summer; but today is a needed step toward justice.

The Spring 2021 Semester continues with a variety of programs and activities designed to enlighten, educate and engage our diverse community; however, you might have seen on the news, heard from friends or family members, or experienced yourself, harassment and hate crimes towards Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have risen during the COVID-19 crisis.

Today is a day that we celebrate, congratulate and welcome Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States of America and Kamala Harris, who is the first woman, first black and first Asian-American to serve as our country's Vice President.

Observed each year on the third Monday in January, MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities.

On January 6th, our country witnessed an attack on our democracy and the continuation of the unsettling circumstances that waver around racial injustice and lawlessness.

Thanksgiving week is upon us, in a year that has presented many unforeseen challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the uncovering of racial injustice and tense political shift of our country.

Today, on National Voter Registration Day, I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage you all to register to vote, if you haven’t already, before the upcoming voter registration deadline on October 9th.