Dear Members of the SUNY New Paltz Community,
I am writing today as part of my ongoing engagement with faculty, staff, students, alumni, community members and professional colleagues regarding the brutal attacks by Hamas that killed thousands of unarmed and non-violent men, women and children in Israel, and the subsequent suffering of innocent people in Gaza and throughout the region. In the past year, as I have been engaging with “my SUNY New Paltz home,” I have used my voice and platforms to reinforce that it is through brave spaces, not safe spaces, that we grow and lead. This communication is in some ways my personal “brave walk.” Why brave? I look at individuals who throughout history have faced challenges, often requiring the ultimate sacrifice, rather than to sit in comfort and safety. Images from my earliest childhood of presidential and civil rights leaders being beaten and assassinated framed a worldview that lives in my actions today – there are risks worth taking when wrongs and evils must be confronted.
Throughout my career and personal life, I have chosen to express these values through my active and persistent teaching, research and community service on equity and social justice, more than written statements. Over the past week and since posting our Oct. 10, 2023, statement after the Hamas killings and hostage-taking of Israeli civilians and the ensuing counterattacks, I have attended a national leadership forum where this issue was front and center, engaged with SUNY presidents on the topic, participated in a local community vigil, and sat with SUNY New Paltz faculty, staff and students who are in pain, afraid, confused, seeking support and looking to me for institutional leadership.
This is deeply personal for me, and I thank those who have spent time with me, sharing their experiences and emotional reactions. I thank them for asking me the deep questions about my own moral responsibilities to lead with clarity and courage, and to engage fully in the denunciation of terrorism and inhuman violence. As SUNY New Paltz president, I must lead from that brave space to use my voice and platform in opposition to any forms of anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. It calls for me to be clear that acts of mass murder of unarmed humans are not defendable. In many media and personal accounts, the Hamas attack has been compared to 9/11 and called a holocaust. The scale of the carnage and ongoing strife is being experienced in so many ways among members of our SUNY New Paltz community and will undoubtedly have long-term impacts. As a human who values life and as a university president who seeks solutions, I must lean into hearing and acknowledging these raw emotions, seek ways to console colleagues in the immediate moment, and work forward to build paths of action.
It is important for me to also be realistic that I cannot and will not, in any written statement, come up with words that will fully satisfy everyone. My desire for calm and peace will not magically manifest a world where such acts will never again occur. Yet, it is vital that I lead from a place where fear of being challenged does not stop me from leading efforts for our SUNY New Paltz community. As we look back on this moment, I hope as a community we choose to pull together and demonstrate what brave work looks like and what it can accomplish.
Yesterday, I met with our student leaders and felt such a sense of pride and gratitude that I am leading an institution where brave acts are being demonstrated on so many levels and so clearly articulated from so many diverse voices.
This SUNY New Paltz community has so many courageous members. It is my hope that this short statement offers clear support for each of us to use the wisdom and resources we have to design, lead and engage in actions to support one another in building a world that will honor the memory and lived mission of so many who can no longer do this work themselves.
Sincerely,
Darrell P. Wheeler
President
