We, the faculty, staff, and students of the University of Maryland Department of Behavioral and Community Health, strongly condemn anti-black violence that has resulted in the recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Sean Reed, and many others. We extend our thoughts, anguish, and sympathies to their families, friends, and the broader black community. Unequivocally, we stand against the persistent and systemic racism that continues to disproportionately impact black people.
We are outraged by the historic record of hatred, brutality, and discrimination against black people in this country. These acts of violence are not happenstance, but follow a consistent pattern of pernicious racism, which is supported by white supremacy, white privilege, white fragility, and white silence. Our current state of sociopolitical unrest has exposed and reminded us how racism is the root cause of health inequities. As public health investigators and practitioners, we are charged with identifying, understanding, developing solutions, and acting upon these injustices that negatively impact the health and well-being of black people. To this end, we will now need to comprehensively and critically self-evaluate whether we have accomplished our professional charge.
We are now recommitting ourselves to striving toward equity, captured in the values of the UMD School of Public Health as “a dedication to social justice, achievement of health equity, elimination of health disparities, and honoring the principles of diversity and inclusion.” We recognize that the Department of Behavioral and Community Health may have culture and practices in place that run counter to our values.
A major gap in our curriculum begins with the absence of integration of critical race theory and other sociological and community action theories throughout our course offerings, as well as integrating community perspectives to support a broad base of community health knowledge and skills. As part of this recommitment, department leaders and faculty will be expected to support and grow these initiatives, including, for example:
- In their annual updates to their curriculum, faculty will make changes geared toward inclusion and the study of historical and social determinants of health in course content and pedagogy to better address structural racism.
- We will leverage technology to bring community perspectives into the classroom.
- We will explore how to expand our Community Health Honors program efforts, for example, through Eta Sigma Gamma (national health education honors society), a certificate program, or specialization.
- We will revise our vision and mission statements to emphasize our commitment to racial and social justice.
We will expect these updates to be reflected in annual program learning outcomes.
The undersigned stand together both as a unified group and in smaller affinity groups ready to strengthen our diversity to embrace future challenges and dismantle structural racism. We plan several actions, individually and collectively, including attending protests, sharing resources, holding space for one another to express both anguish and joy (as the moment prompts), and hosting events that help us reflect upon, identify, and change problematic policies, practices, and norms. This commitment and solidarity statement echoes those of the School of Public Health, University of Maryland, the American Public Health Association, and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health.
In Solidarity,
- Israel Abebe BCH Graduate Student
- Sacha St. Onge Ahmad BCH Graduate Student
- Elizabeth Aparicio BCH Faculty/Staff
- Amelia Arria BCH Faculty/Staff
- Cynthia Baur BCH Faculty/Staff
- Brad Boekeloo BCH Faculty/Staff
- Dina L.G. Borzekowski BCH Faculty/Staff
- Hannah Bress BCH Graduate Student
- Abigail Bridges BCH Graduate Student
- Lexy Bryant BCH Undergraduate Student
- Brittany Bugbee BCH Faculty/Staff
- Dr. James Butler III BCH Faculty/Staff
- Kathryn Vincent Carr BCH Faculty/Staff
- Dasuni Choudhary BCH Undergraduate Student
- Barbara Curbow BCH Faculty/Staff
- Grace Deleon BCH Undergraduate Student
- Sharon M. Desmond BCH Faculty/Staff
- Andrea Dragan BCH Graduate Student
- Daniel Dye BCH Undergraduate Student
- Bob Feldman BCH Faculty/Staff
- Craig S. Fryer BCH Faculty/Staff
- Robert S. Gold BCH Faculty/Staff
- Kerry Green BCH Faculty/Staff
- Beatrice Hammett BCH Undergraduate Student
- Sara Hatfield BCH Undergraduate Student
- Alice Horowitz BCH Faculty/Staff
- Donna Howard BCH Faculty/Staff
- Maisha Huq BCH Graduate Student
- Devlon N. Jackson BCH Faculty/Staff
- Michelle Jasczynski BCH Graduate Student
- Malinda Kennedy BCH Faculty/Staff
- Tracy Kennedy BCH Faculty/Staff
- Azieb Kidanu BCH Faculty/Staff
- Evelyn C. King-Marshall BCH Faculty/Staff
- Cheryl L. Knott BCH Faculty/Staff
- Laura Koo BCH Graduate Student
- Charlene Kuo BCH Graduate Student
- Omobolanle Kushimo BCH Graduate Student
- Stephen Nkansah-Amankra BCH Faculty/Staff
- Leonore Okwara BCH Faculty/Staff
- Sara Olsen BCH Graduate Student
- Barry Portnoy BCH Faculty/Staff
- M Sue Reynolds BCH Faculty/Staff
- Margarita Rodriguez BCH Faculty/Staff
- Sandy Saperstein BCH Faculty/Staff
- Katherine Sharp BCH Faculty/Staff
- Kirsten Stoebenau BCH Faculty/Staff
- Hannah Tralka BCH Faculty/Staff
- Kwaniyah Tuffour BCH Undergraduate Student
- Matt Wootten BCH Faculty/Staff
- Jee Hun (Mike) Yoo BCH Graduate Student
- Tracy Zeeger BCH Faculty/Staff