To the Case Western Reserve Community:
You are welcome here.
Four years ago, our campus became one of more than 300 colleges and universities to make that simple sentence the center of a campaign against exclusion, xenophobia, and religious intolerance.
Eleven months ago, attacks against Asian Americans nationwide prompted members of our community to renew the campaign—and its hashtag, #YouAreWelcomeHereCWRU—by expressing support online.
Sadly, recent weeks have seen a resurgence of reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders—including the beating death of an 84-year-old man in San Francisco and disfigurement of another in New York City. This week, Cleveland’s City Council denounced anti-Asian and all other forms of racism; members of Congress have increased calls for improved reporting of hate crimes and support for victims.
To be clear, hate crimes and harassment against any member of our campus community will not be tolerated. As a reminder, if you have experienced such behaviors, we encourage you to report it through our Community Concerns Reporting System and/or the Division of Public Safety.
Diversity and inclusion are core values of Case Western Reserve. Discrimination against an individual or group because of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or any other aspect of their identity is antithetical to who we are. It limits our learning, narrows our research, and undermines our entire mission.
You are more than welcome here—you are needed here. And we are grateful that each of you is part of our university community.
Scott Cowen
Interim President
Ben Vinson III
Provost and Executive Vice President