Dean's Statement On Justice For Black Lives And Call For Inclusive Action

A message from Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill.

Dear ARHU Community, 

Although I’m writing in a sad and difficult time, I am heartened by the many members of our community—administrators, faculty, students, staff, alumni—working to fight systemic racism in America, raising awareness about inequality and demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery among others. When I participated in the 1966 Meredith March Against Fear in Mississippi and other Civil Rights demonstrations of that era, I did so with hope and a strong belief that fundamental change would result. After all the lives lost and battles fought, I am disheartened that subsequent generations must continue these struggles. Yet as a scholar on the intersections of race, class, gender and other dimensions of inequality, I know that these wounds fester and reopen in every generation throughout U.S. history. 

The convergence of repeated acts of police injustice with a pandemic that has killed over 100,000 people, unparalleled levels of unemployment and a lack of national moral leadership has created a crisis that has left us in a state of anxiety, anger, stress and exhaustion. 

As students and scholars of the arts and humanities, we know that our fields have much to offer in these times. Let us work together to expand the impact of knowledge that combats systemic racism through our incisive courses, penetrating scholarship, inspiring programming and effective community advocacy. Let this guide us throughout the upcoming academic year and beyond. 

Sincerely,

Bonnie Thornton Dill

Dean & Professor 

College of Arts & Humanities, University of Maryland 

Campus Statements:

June 01- Pines: Stand in Solidarity, Unite Against Injustice  

May 31- In Community and Solidarity

May 29- Statement by USM Leadership on Structural Racism and the Killing of George Floyd   

May 21- Responding to Anti-Black Racism