Dear NYU Silver Community,
As members of the NYU Silver School of Social Work’s Social Justice Praxis Committee (SJPC), we are writing to express our outrage, frustration, and grief around the horrific and tragic mass shootings at Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay that claimed the lives of 18 individuals, many of whom were part of the Asian and Latine/Latinx community, as well as the inhumane and senseless killing of a Black man, Tyre Nichols. Our deepest condolences are with the families, friends, and communities of those impacted by these devastating murders.
These violent attacks have sparked fear, anger, frustration, and sadness across the Silver Community and the nation. Unfortunately, these acts of hate are not new and are the products of systemic racism, white supremacy, and structural oppression that perpetuate these cycles of violence and harm. They also run counter to the values of the social work profession, which include acknowledging and respecting the inherent dignity and worth of all individuals.
We recognize the collective trauma you may be experiencing due to these violent incidents, and we want you to know that we are here for you and care deeply about your well-being. During challenging times like these, we need to check in with each other and check in with ourselves about what types of support we need to best care for our minds, hearts, bodies, and spirits.
We also want to acknowledge the untenable expectations and performance pressure, born of white supremacy, that weigh heavily upon our school’s BIPOC senior leadership, staff, and students. It is unsustainable and harmful to their well-being even in ordinary times and is only exacerbated in the wake of these recent murders, when the pressures deny them the opportunity to slow down and process their feelings. We must resist structural forces and change the culture within our school to give our leaders grace, value the quality more than the quantity of their work, and ensure they have time for critical self-care.
The mission of the SJPC is to develop and implement strategies and tactics of action to uphold the social justice mission of NYU Silver and the social work profession. We ask the NYU Silver community to join the SJPC in our collective fight for social justice and change by taking action. We call upon all members of the Silver community to examine existing institutional practices, identify opportunities to remove barriers, and create a sustainable culture with a restorative mindset to build relationships, repair harm, and reintegration into the community. We call on the community to lead with praxis (theory and action) and community care inclusive of:
1. Explore and implement alternative and non-traditional forms of healing from trauma (music and art),
2. Increase awareness and address the hyper invisibility and visibility in predominantly white institutions (PWI) that results in historically marginalized people feeling scrutinized, vulnerable, exhausted, and isolated,
3. Develop and implement a Silver diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategic plan,
4. Address the decline in BIPOC student enrollment and develop pipelines efforts to increase recruitment of historically marginalized students,
5. Engage and appoint representatives from Silver's satellite campuses (Rockland, Westchester, and Shanghai) to the Silver Leadership Team (SLT),
6. Appoint a coordinator of Adjuncts to build an inclusive community and share resources, and
7. Redesignate and initiate Silver's Common Hour to support inclusive community engagement and foster relationships.
We support ongoing care and efforts for BIPOC faculty, staff, and students in the coming weeks that will center the experience of BIPOC members of the community and provide space to process recent events and be in community:
Real Conversations, “We Gon Be Alright”: Transformational Ways To Heal,
a virtual wellness space for BIPOC students: February 24, at 4 pm;
BIPOC Healing Circle for Faculty and Staff: February 23, at 1 pm;
NYU Wellness Resources for Faculty, Staff, and Students:
Counseling is available to Silver students with Dr. Tiffany Llewellyn by contacting the Counseling and Wellness Services at NYU. Students may also access the NYU Wellness Exchange to talk with a counselor 24/7 via phone (212) 443-9999, chat through the Wellness Exchange app, or by stopping by during their virtual drop-in hours.
Faculty and staff may contact the Employee Assistance Program (Optum) 24/7 at (888) 980-8740 and via chat in their app. Dr. Bob Talbot, NYU’s onsite EAP consultant, is also available as a resource.
Students, faculty, and staff seeking spiritual support may connect with a Spiritual Life Advisor through NYU Global Spiritual Life during their virtual office hours.
Silver Peer Advocates, part of Silver’s Climate Support Protocol, work in consultation with the Director of DEI, Richeleen Dashield, to support the human dignity of those who have been affected by bias, discrimination, and harassment.
New York University Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation (OGI) Toolkits and Resources
Additional Community Resources:
Sliver’s Identity-Based Student Led Groups
Asian and AAPI Communities’ Resources
Black Communities’ Resources
