Randolph statement on violence against Asians and Asian Americans

Dear members of the Randolph community,

During the last year, we have experienced a difficult and deadly pandemic. Over 500,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and our community was forced to live and learn remotely during much of 2020 before returning this spring to a limited opening of our beautiful campus.

But now, just as we begin to look forward to a successful program of vaccination and the hope of a return to more normal lives together, the ugly reality of hatred, discrimination, and race violence has once again come to the fore in American society. The mass murders last week in Atlanta are but one horrific example of the painful mistreatment of Asians and Asian Americans that has been escalating across the country during the last year.

As an institution dedicated to liberal education, our purpose is to train people for free lives. We provide the tools of freedom, and we provide them to everyone. Our shared commitment to freedom means that we stand together against race hatred, against racial violence, and against all claims to racial supremacy.

Our most famous alumna, Pearl S. Buck, won the Nobel Prize for her novels showing the full humanity of the Chinese people. Thus, for much of our history, our College has been associated with dismantling stereotypes of Asians and Asian Americans. We must continue to embrace that history and support the Asian and Asian American members of our College family and beyond as we stand together against all acts of race hatred, discrimination, and violence.

Brad Bateman