Dear UNT Community,

Exactly one year ago, I wrote to all of you about the rise in harassment and bullying toward members of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community across the country. At the time, our focus was on affirming our values as a diverse, caring home for all of our students, faculty, and staff. We remain committed to building a world where all of humanity is treated with dignity and respect, which means today our conversation must expand beyond an affirmation of our values.

We must acknowledge a nationwide rise in violence, discrimination, and xenophobia directed against the AAPI community. We have an obligation to condemn the pervasive discrimination, racism, stereotyping, and injustice that have far too long been destructive forces within our society.

We must stand with our AAPI community, and stand up against racism wherever and whenever we find it. All of us deserve to be safe from violence. BIPOC and AAPI communities have been denied that right for far too long.

If you have experienced or witnessed harassing behavior, report it to the Dean of Students office at report.unt.edu or to the Equal Opportunity & Title IX office. You also can get involved with one of our Multicultural Center programs or learn more about diversity and inclusion at UNT and allyship from the Division of Institutional Equity & Diversity. You also can get specific information on UNT's AAPI community organizations on their site. National information is available through Stop AAPI Hate (@stopaapihate), a national coalition aimed at addressing anti-Asian discrimination amid the pandemic and founded by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), and San Francisco State University's Asian American Studies Department.

We are one community, one family. Harm to any one of us is harm to us all. Let's fight together to dismantle systemic racism and discrimination.

Sincerely,

Neal Smatresk

UNT President