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January 23, 2023

Dear Wolf Pack Family,

I hope this message finds you well as we begin spring semester instruction today. Last week, the plan was to share with you all a “Welcome Back” video today. Given what transpired in Monterey Park, California over the weekend, however, I felt it was important to use this message to instead offer the University’s support to all of the members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community following the senseless killing of 10 people and the wounding of an additional 10 people on Saturday at a dance hall in Monterey Park, a predominantly Asian community located east of Los Angeles.

We are all deeply saddened by what happened on Saturday night. The Asian American and Pacific Islander community, which has seen an alarming rise in violence perpetrated against the members of their community, is again in the position of wondering if it is possible to feel safe in a world where senseless gun violence continues to spread.

Each day, as our country experiences these mass shootings, something important is taken from us. The communities involved lose members whose talents, goodness and contributions for the future will never be completely realized. A sense of normalcy and safety in these cities and towns is forever shattered. And as a nation, we wonder when and where will it happen next. Saturday’s killings were just the latest in a long line of terrible gun violence events. The tragic memories from November’s mass shooting at the Colorado Springs, Colorado, LGBTQ Club, Club Q, where five people were killed and 25 more were injured, are still with us.

For our campus, we must make sure that our students, faculty and staff as well as those in the community at large who are members of the Asian American, Pacific Islander and LGBTQ+ communities know that we stand with them and support them. It is our duty as sentient beings to reach out, to listen, to reassure those most affected by such senseless tragedy that they are not alone in processing the profound loss they are experiencing. We have important resources available to help throughout this coming semester. Counseling Services offer therapy and psychological services for students; the Downing Counseling Clinic (through the College of Education and Human Development) offers therapy services for students, faculty and staff; and the Employee Assistance Program is available for faculty and staff.

Today as we start the spring semester, and throughout the days and weeks to come, please look out for one another. Congresswoman Judy Chu, a resident of Monterey Park for 37 years and the former three-time mayor of the city, while expressing her deep grief and sorrow about the killings, added in a tweet on Sunday: “Our community is strong, and we will get through this terrible event together.” Let us do the same. Let us all come together during this national tragedy.

Sincere regards,

Brian Sandoval
President