A message from President Harvey Stenger

May 30, 2020

Dear University Community,

I join with millions across the country in expressing outrage at the brutal killing of George Floyd and extend our deepest sympathy to his grieving family. I call upon local, state and federal officials to bring all of their resources to bear to bring those responsible to justice.

Mr. Floyd’s killing was a senseless act of racist violence made all the more horrific because it represents the brutality that people of color experience every day. More than 50 years ago, the murders of James Chaney, Mickey Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, Jimmy Lee Jackson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. triggered massive protests that led to the passage of landmark civil rights legislation. Yet today, people of color continue to suffer from income inequality, inadequate access to healthcare and violence, often at the hands of police, as the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and so many more demonstrate. Enough is enough! We must stop the violence and injustice that people of color endure.

While the Binghamton University community stands together with the thousands engaged in peaceful protest of Mr. Floyd’s killing, we also call on those responding with violence to desist. The pain and anger that may provoke these acts is understandable, but violence only deflects attention from the tragedy of Mr. Floyd’s death and the action we must take to stop racist violence.

At a time when we must come together as communities and a country to protect one another from a vicious virus, I ask that our community and the country come together to mourn Mr. Floyd’s death, demand justice for the perpetrators, work together to end the scourge of racist violence and create communities that are true to the values represented by Dr. King.

Sincerely,

Harvey Stenger
President