June 3, 2020
Dear UConn Health family,
On August 28 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C,. in front of 250,000 black and white people and delivered a speech titled “I Have a Dream.” He spoke of African Americans never being satisfied as long as they are “the victims of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality” and he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
This weekend as I drove my two teenage daughters to the peaceful New Haven protest, I looked at their beautiful brown faces in the rearview mirror, listened to their passionate words, and like many African American parents I felt the dissatisfaction, anxiety, and disappointment of that as of yet incompletely fulfilled dream.
The brutal death of George Floyd as well as being a personal tragedy for himself, and his loved ones, is a watershed event that has forced us as a nation to confront the uncomfortable truth that some people still reject one of our country’s key founding principles: “We hold this truth to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”
Here at UConn Health and the University of Connecticut, I know we do believe deeply in that foundational principle. We are not perfect but we continually strive. It is why so many of you from all walks of life have expressed your outrage and your commitment to ensuring that in our microcosm of the country everyone no matter the color of his or her skin, or any other attribute, will be treated as an equal human being deserving of dignity, respect, and justice. I am proud to be a part of a community that upholds these ideals.
Because of the depth of emotion surrounding this brutal event and its aftermath, families across the country are discussing and trying to make sense of what occurred. I believe that we as the UConn Health family would benefit from the opportunity to do the same.
As such I will be conducting a UConn Health virtual town hall discussion on Friday for anyone that would like to attend. Please see the details below. Stay safe and I look forward to the discussion.
Regards,
Andy
Andrew Agwunobi, M.D., M.B.A.
Chief Executive Officer, UConn Health
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs
| Event: | Dr. Andy Virtual Town Hall | ||||
| Event address for attendees: | https://uchc.webex.com/uchc/onstage/g.php?MTID=e0fd6d7ac765fa05f22b1924168afe548 | ||||
| Event password:
Date and time: |
uconn2020
Friday, June 5 at 12 noon |
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If you have any questions, please forward them to thquestion@uchc.edu in advance of the call. Questions will also be accepted during the call via the WebEx or the email above.
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