Rockefeller statement calls for justice and inclusivity in the United States

On June 2, in the wake of the death of George Floyd, the Office of the President issued a statement to all Rockefeller University employees.

We are all deeply troubled by the death of George Floyd due to horrific behavior by police officers, and the fact that this inexcusable loss of life is a recurring story across our country.

Moreover, this event has occurred in the context of a pandemic that is disproportionally taking the lives of people of color, which only deepens our concern. We have seen and felt a national outpouring of grief, pain, and anger in response. These are raw emotions, but they can also be the beginnings of efforts to bring about lasting change.

As individuals and as an institution, we have a responsibility to acknowledge the long history of unequal treatment in our country and the routine injustices faced by people of color. In this moment, we particularly offer support to members of the Black community, who have been especially impacted.

The university’s core mission is the use of science in the dispassionate search for truth. As individuals and as an institution, we must apply the same rigorous inquiry to evaluate our own biases, and to consider how the reality of our society measures up to our ideals of equal opportunity and justice for all.

It is our obligation as citizens to unequivocally denounce racism in all its guises, and to individually and collectively commit to building a society based on equality and justice.