Dear Campus Community:
Among my responsibilities in this moment is to hear your voices, to open my head and my heart to better understand the pain and trauma many have experienced these past few months and particularly over the past few days. I will not abdicate that duty.
I spent time today listening to students and others at the Office Hours with the President, after having spent the last many days reviewing correspondence including the videos from across the New Paltz community, and before I meet with many more of you at sessions planned tomorrow.
These are opportunities for me to learn about where you sit with the anger, pain and hurt that you are feeling, and reflect on how we have arrived at this point. I have heard the terror that came with the horrific Oct. 7 attack, profound sadness for the awful loss of civilian lives in Gaza, outrage and frustration with our national politics and those of other nations, fear generated by the way discourse about these issues has unfolded in the country and on our campus, shock at a frightening proliferation of hate, disappointment at not feeling heard, and dismay at the events at SUNY New Paltz of May 2. This experience is painful for me as well. And while I am working to stay focused on listening to your experiences, I am doing deep soul searching to understand what more I must do to assist in SUNY New Paltz healing.
In retrospect, I wish that my message of May 3 had focused first on supporting members of our community who have experienced trauma over the last few months and days rather than moving immediately to focusing on the path forward. In my eagerness to provide a clear signal of campus leadership’s priorities and planning, I did not adequately serve a campus community that needed time and space for processing intense emotions. I deeply regret the pain many of you are feeling.
As president, I am tasked with using my best judgment to lead this institution and make difficult decisions. I have always been and remain committed to ensuring our campus is safe and supportive, protecting freedom of expression and the robust exchange of ideas, and providing the highest quality of education to each and every student. I know we can and must be more successful as a community on delivering on each of those responsibilities and I pledge always to examine where we are falling short and to strive to do better.
I know there are many more conversations to come. They will surely be difficult; I have faith they will also be constructive. Please know that I am committed to staying in this dialogue and fully exploring your concerns. I see many of you rising to this moment as leaders and advocates, working in the best interest of our students and our institution, and I will not turn to look away. Together, we can find ways to build and support SUNY New Paltz’s tradition of supporting this agenda.
Sincerely,
Darrell P. Wheeler
President
