College of Music Community:

It was on June 2, 2020 that we wrote the following: “We write to you with tremendous sadness as well as with outrage. This past weekend of brutality and murder in Minnesota has brought forward yet again, the truth that there is deep and pervasive racism throughout American society that deeply stains our nation.”

The horrific murders of eight people in the Atlanta area last Tuesday including individuals of Asian descent – Delaina Ashley Yaun, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, and Yong Ae Yue – underscores again the debilitating and pervasive hate, misogyny, anti-Asian discrimination, and white supremacy that exists in our society. Our condolences are extended to the victims and their families.

We have a vibrant international community at MSU and in the College of Music. We take this moment to express our solidarity with and our support of the exceptional Asian and Asian-American College of Music students, faculty, staff, and alumni. These friends and colleagues make our learning community, our musical community, and our society ever-stronger in significant ways.

We must all accept the responsibility to prevent the spread of violence and hate. In that context, one step we as a College must take is to redouble our individual and collective efforts and initiatives through Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging planning and actions. We must work together to create a more effective and equitable learning community and work together to extinguish racism in our midst.

Jim Forger
Dean

Michael Kroth
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Operations

David Rayl
Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research

Rodney Whitaker
Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging