Anti-Racism at CUNYSPH

Please see our Anti-Racism at CUNY SPH page for resources.

From the CUNY Board of Trustees:

“We can no longer accept the deep and unconscionable inequalities that exist in our nation. The CUNY Board of Trustees stands with our city and country in denouncing hate and demanding change.”

The CUNY Board of Trustees full statement on racial injustice can be viewed here.

From CUNY SPH Dean Ayman El-Mohandes:

Dear Friends,

The death of George Floyd is one more outrage in a 400-year history of racial injustice. The many-headed hydra of racism touches lives across our country every day.

The pandemic that engulfs us all is not an equal opportunity plague: the suffering in communities of color has been and continues to be vastly disproportionate, founded in structural racism that shapes health, wealth, education, and housing. These inequities impinge on the sanctity of life itself.

I write to acknowledge the pain and grief we are all feeling today, and to ask you to use this moment to strengthen your resolve and not fall into despair. Our role as a public health community is more central than ever in fighting social injustice: in these dark times, change is only possible from the ground up and we all will play a role in making it happen.

Let us stand in solidarity and celebrate the courage of those who took to the streets around the country in peaceful protest against this latest atrocity. Their aim is to unify and not to divide. This is a national tragedy that reflects on us all. Let us also join and support those whose grassroots efforts are working to move the agenda forward.

We should not forget to comfort one another with the promise that, with all of us working together, the long arc of history will ultimately bend toward justice.

All my best,

Ayman El-Mohandes
Dean